USAF: New Teminology

New terminology recognizes contributions of Airmen

by Staff Sgt. J.G. Buzanowski
Secretary of the Air Force Public Affairs

12/17/2008 - WASHINGTON (AFNS) -- The Air Force is adopting new terminology to better reflect participation in today's joint fight, the Air Force chief of staff advised in a letter to the field.

Airmen who were previously categorized as filling non-standard or "in lieu of" taskings now will be referred to as filling a joint expeditionary tasking, or JET.

"When it comes to being part of the joint fight, the Air Force is all in," Gen. Norton Schwartz said. "The term JET reinforces our commitment to the joint fight as an equal member of the joint team. The amazing contributions Airmen make around the world every day are not in lieu of anything."

The Air Force change comes on the heels of a larger shift within the entire Department of Defense. As of Oct. 1, DOD terminology for "in Lieu of" taskings was refined and broken out into three separate sourcing categories to more narrowly and accurately define the nature of the tasks military members perform.

The DOD categories for non-standard taskings previously referred to as ILO are now:

-- Joint Force/Capability Solution: military members from one Service who perform their core mission in place of military members from another Service

-- AD-HOC: military members from one Service combined with military members and equipment from another Service into a single deployable unit

-- ILO: military members performing mission capabilities outside of their normal competencies

An Air Force RED HORSE team filling an Army engineering battalion requirement would be an example of a joint force/capability solution task. An example of an ad-hoc task would be a provincial reconstruction team, a capability which is built when needed and not contained in any Service. Currently the Air Force does not have any taskings which meet the new DOD definition for ILO.

Regardless, General Schwartz stressed the term JET would be used for all non-standard taskings to help capture the magnitude of Airmen's service. While DOD terminology will still be used in joint planning, Airmen will use the term JET internally to encompass all of these terms to "emphasize our contribution to the fight with a single term that reflects our esprit and mission," the general said.

"When our nation needs us, we answer the call," he said.