To avoid cutting off entirely the tradition of allowing selected noncommissioned and warrant officers to become officers, the Air Force introduced a number of programs. The Airmen Education and Commissioning Program of 1960 allowed a few airmen to pursue full-time college studies while on active duty and to attend OTS after graduation. The Bootstrap Commissioning Program of 1967 allowed up to 52 weeks of permissive temporary duty to complete the senior residency requirements of many universities, followed by enrollment in OTS. The Airman Commissioning Program of 1972 made some first-term airmen already possessing college degrees eligible for officer training. The effect of these programs on the officer corps was slight when compared to the OCS program.

Officer Training Role. The Officer Training School quickly shook off its legacy as an expanded and modified form of earlier direct commissioning programs. Like the master potter who carefully selected exceptional clays with which to mold distinctive and durable vessels, OTS sought to form a new breed of Air Force officer. It soon evolved as the major supplier of Air Force officers. Not only did OTS absorb OCS's officer-production quotas after 1963. The school's expanding role was a case of coming along at the right time. The President Kennedy/Secretary of Defense McNamara military expansion enlarged the Air Force's officer corps. The Vietnam War buildup and its casualty rates further accelerated officer procurement. The unpopularity of the Southeast Asian war on college campuses resulted in significant drops in ROTC enrollment, and OTS had to take up the slack.

The officer training program had come along at a propitious time, giving Air Force officials a flexible personnel management tool with which to handle rapidly fluctuating demands during the turbulent 1960s. Officer Candidate School had graduated 7,532 officers during the CY 1950s; OTS produced almost 40,000 officers in the FY 1960s. This larger student load was handled within a twelve-week course, eight-class per year schedule, except during FY 1966 and 1967 when high recruitment quotas necessitated a program of ten classes a year training five-and-a-half days per week for ten weeks.

The Officer Training School exceeded Lackland Training Annex facilities during most of the 1960s. Some OTS operations returned to Lackland's main installation in February 1962. Several construction projects added to the OTS campus, but it was not until September 1970 that all operations were again permanently consolidated on the Lackland Training Annex. Constructed between August 1964 and April 1966 was a "military and professional training building," later named Forbes Hall. Students occupied a new 500-bed dormitory in August 1966.

Reformation of Officer Training. The beginning of the 1970s was a time of review, rearrangement, and improvement for The Officer Training School. In July 1969, classes were made smaller and more frequent, adopting a 15-class, three-week commencement cycle for the three-month. course. During FY 1971, OTS was restricted to men recruited for flying training (rotary winged pilot hopefuls included for the first time) and to WAF officer candidates. This practice recurred periodically whenever pilot shortages developed.