The Air Force has selected five officers for the award of a 2019 Olmsted Foundation scholarship, sponsored by the George and Carol Olmsted Foundation. One of the five, one is from Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, Ariz. Capt. Matthew Pfarr has been selected to study in the Czech Republic.
The Olmsted Foundation offers outstanding young military leaders the opportunity to become fluent in a foreign language, pursue graduate study at an overseas university and develop understanding of foreign cultures.
The Air Force’s Personnel Center selection board and the Olmsted Foundation Board of Directors made the selection.
The other four selectees are: Capt.. Jonathan Goldstein, Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, N.J., to study in Hungary; Maj. Adam Gray, Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, to study in Japan; Maj. Hunter Grunden, Kadena Air Base, Japan, to study in France; and Maj. Christopher Travelstead, Dyess AFB, Texas, to study in China.
“As a key security cooperation program, the Air Force provides many training opportunities that enable us to amplify our collective strengths and improve our ability to confront shared challenges with our international partners,” said Kris Hunter, Officer Development Education deputy chief at AFPC. “Participants will experience cultural immersion in a selected country, providing an in-depth understanding of foreign languages and cultures.”
The selected officers could spend up to a year in language proficiency training at the Defense Language Institute, if needed, followed by two years of study in a foreign graduate program.
“The education and training of our Total Force must be relevant and responsive,” Hunter said. “The Olmsted scholarship offers our officers a rare, invaluable opportunity to develop academically as well as culturally. This ultimately builds enduring partner capabilities and capacities to ensure regional and global security in the air, space and cyberspace domains.”
Prior to releasing the list, AFPC provided senior raters with advanced knowledge of their officers’ selection to allow notification through the chain of command.