The purpose of the NSF is to expose influential citizens to senior U.S. and international military officers and civilian equivalents in order to engage each other's ideas and perspectives on Air Force, national and international security issues. It is also an opportunity for the AWC students, as future military leaders, to interact with a broad cross-section of civilian leaders from businesses, industry, academia, public education, media, law, the clergy, and state and local governments, said civilian leaders possessing limited to no prior military experience.