Wing leadership holds force management town hall meetings

Published Dec. 21, 2013
By Senior Master Sgt. Burke Baker
386th Air Expeditionary Wing Public Affairs

SOUTHWEST ASIA -- A series of mandatory town hall meetings were held here this week as the 386th Air Expeditionary Wing leadership made the latest information available to Airmen on the recently announced force management programs.

Air Force leadership announced on Dec. 11 that it was expanding previous force management programs. The aim of the programs is to reduce the force by thousands of Airmen over the next five years as a result of sequestration.

Eight town hall meetings were held during a two day period focusing on both officer and enlisted personnel programs. The meetings were designed to provide information and resources to deployed 386th AEW Airman and to answer questions.

Col. Bradley Hoagland, 386th AEW Vice-Wing Commander, addressed each of the eight town hall briefings.

"We are experiencing an all-time high in retention rates for a force that is the best qualified in the world," said Hoagland. "However, the current fiscal environment creates challenges for our Air Force, and the Department of Defense. These budget constraints require us to make an extremely difficult financial decision, which is resulting in an Air Force-wide course of action that reduces our end strength up to 25,000 active-duty Airmen, as well as a reduction of up to 550 aircraft. Our goal is to ensure we have the most qualified Airmen to meet the AF's core mission sets so we can continue to fight and win our Nation's wars," he said.

Hoagland told Airman that his goal was to educate the force. He stressed to Airman that the wing leadership would pass along whatever information they had so every individual in the 386th AEW could make the best possible decision for their careers and their family.

The question on everyone's mind was who would be affected.

Lt. Col. Cotina Jenkins-Sellers, 386th Expeditionary Force Support Squadron commander, addressed this by saying, "All Airmen in Air Force Specialty Codes with overages and Airmen with negative indicators could be impacted by the recently approved Force Management Programs. We are awaiting matrices and lists from Air Force Personnel Center on those affected."

In the meantime, she strongly suggested that Airmen review their records via the Personnel Records Display Application and ensure there aren't any errors associated with their files. In the event that errors are found, Airmen should visit the Personnel Support for Contingency Operations (PERSCO) customer service team for resolution. Jenkins-Sellers also suggested that Airmen should continue to check MyPers for the most current information about the programs.

Several of the Airmen attending the meetings had questions about how these programs might affect the mission the 386th AEW is currently performing.

"The mission of the 386 AEW will not change," said Hoagland. "We are and will remain capable of projecting airpower from the ground up in order to promote regional security, enhance strategic access, and strengthen enduring partnerships. However, it is paramount for all Airmen, at every level, to educate themselves and their subordinates on the finer details of each and every FM program. We in the deployed environment also have a responsibility to work closely with our home-station leadership so that every Airman's options are clearly articulated and understood before making a decision," he said.

The recently announced force management initiatives are in addition to the announcement made in July, in which the Air Force stated their intentions to implement several force management programs in order to meet ongoing budget reduction requirements.

"These are tough times for our Airmen, but tough times demand leadership...and now is the time to lead, at all levels," said Hoagland.