Top AF trainer receives feedback from ILO Airmen

Published April 24, 2008
By Tech. Sgt. Michael O'Connor
386th Air Expeditionary Wing public affairs

SOUTHWEST ASIA -- The commander of Second Air Force responsible for the development, oversight and direction of all operational aspects of basic military training and technical schools for enlisted and support officers kicked off a theater-wide tour April 22 at a Southwest Asia air base.

Major Gen. Michael Gould's command provides training in more than 250 Air Force specialties through 2,500 courses, graduating 225,000 Airmen, Soldiers, Sailors, Marines and foreign students annually. The general is also responsible for training Airmen throughout the in-lieu-of/individual augmentee training pipeline at Army training sites across the United States and provides an operations center for pre- and post-deployment support.

"We're making several stops [throughout the area of operations] to see as many in-lieu-of Airmen as we can and find out how their pre-deployment training with the Army went," said General Gould. "Now that they've been in theater a while, we're trying to ascertain whether they got the right kind of skills in their training, or too much or not enough of something else. This trip is a way for us to make an assessment of how well they were trained so we can go back and work with the 1st Army and do what we can to improve the training for the next group."

In speaking with the Airmen of the 586th Air Expeditionary Group, 386th Air Expeditionary Wing, the general said the one thing that stood out is how excited the Airmen were about the various mission sets they were doing and their 'Can Do' attitude.

"They all said they had a good sense for the mission and mission accomplishment," said General Gould. "They felt they really had accomplished something during their tour of duty here. Regardless of what they were asked to do, several said they got more feeling of contribution being deployed then what they do at home station because they can see the fruits of their labor."

The general said the reduction in Air Force manpower in recent years, the increase in deployment rates, and lengths of tours of duty, are all at the heart of why he and his staff are on tour.

"When you look at the length of the deployments and dwell time; many are on a one-to-one dwell, six months deployed, six months at home, and then they're right back into the deployment again," said General Gould. "What we are trying to do is make the pre-deployment training, whether it's with the Army or if the Air Force is going to conduct it, as short and efficient as possible. The feedback we get from Airmen in the field will allow us to go back and let those who train our Airmen know exactly what they need and what they don't need.

"By gaining efficiencies in the training, we can shorten our Airmen's time away from home, but at the same time, we don't want to short change them on training that they have to have," said the general. "They're gone a lot and it's all about efficiencies and eliminating waste, which is what Air Force Smart Operations-21 is all about."

Airmen get paid to provide their nation the air, space and cyber power their country needs, and on top of that, Airmen also do things to help the land component, said the general.

"Army commanders out there love having Airmen working in their midst because our Airmen think their way through problems, said General Gould. "They get the job done ... quickly and effectively ... and we owe them everything we can possibly do to get them the best possible training.

"In my mind, our Air Force is doing a marvelous job of providing our nation with what they've asked us to do," said the general. "My wife Paula and I have two sons and they're both serving in the Air Force as lieutenants ... the same age as many of the Airmen I work with ... I couldn't be more proud of the way this generation of Airmen, Soldiers, Sailors and Marines are stepping up to this war on terror. It's something our nation needs and I'm just awfully proud to be a part of it with all these youngsters who are giving everything they can for the cause."

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