USAF: 14 things airmen must know in 2009

Air Force Times, 1 January 2009

AFT Staff Report

Say so long to 2008, which saw more turmoil than perhaps any year in Air Force history. The unprecedented firing of the service’s top two leaders. The unexpected end to the personnel drawdown. Continued failures in the nuclear arena. The opening of the unmanned aerial vehicle business to nonrated officers. The list goes on.

But more importantly, here’s what’s coming down the pike in 2009, the 14 things you need to know in the new Air Force year.

1. More airmen

The Air Force is poised to grow by more than 4,000 airmen in 2009, part of a plan to boost end strength by 10,000 airmen by the end of fiscal 2010.

the Air Force hasn’t said where those additional positions will land, or how many personnel will be shifted into growth areas, such as into UAVs from other Air Force Specialty Codes.

We know that aircraft maintenance, civil engineering and intelligence specialties, UAV-related jobs, medical fields and security forces will get many of the positions created by the plus-up, but details of the growth plan are still not known.

Look for the Air Force to divulge more of that plan in February, when the fiscal 2010 budget proposal is released.

2. More stripes, faster

A likely result of the plan to grow the Air Force will be faster promotions and higher promotion rates in 2009. The chief master sergeant’s list in November was the first enlisted promotion cycle since the plus-up began. Promotion rates for that cycle were about 5 percentage points higher and time-in-service was about a year lower than in 2007.

Those trends likely will apply for most grades in 2009, as the Air Force has to create more noncommissioned and midlevel officers to lead a larger service.

3. PT to shape up

The Air Force’s physical training program will change in 2009, though exactly how remains unclear.

The Air Force Audit Agency reviewed the current PT program, and its recommendations should be made public soon. PT leaders across the service have told Air Force Times the service’s program still needs improvement in certain areas, such as the number of times per year airmen take PT tests and the abdominal circumference measurement many airmen call unfair.

Expect the number of PT tests you take each year to at least double — Chief Master Sgt. of the Air Force Rodney McKinley said recently that he doesn’t think one is enough.

And be warned: He’s a fan of surprise PT tests.

4. Your last best pay raise?

With the U.S. economy in meltdown mode, the 3.9 percent basic pay hike for 2009 — which the Military Officers Association of America calculates leaves a remaining pay gap of 2.9 percent between the civilian and military sectors — could be the last military raise to outpace the private sector for years to come.

Congress may settle for military raises that keep pace with, but do not top, private-sector wage growth.

President-elect Barack Obama has talked of “maintaining parity” between military and private-sector pay.

5. Your updated uniform

Wear testing of the lightweight Airmen Battle Uniform blouse should begin in the spring, with widespread distribution in summer 2010.

The remake of the PT uniform is targeted for a fall 2009 debut. The uniform will look much the same as the current PT clothes but will feature a softer nylon fabric less prone to making a swishing sound as you walk. The PT remake also will bring workout shorts with side pockets and longer legs. For airmen wanting shorter shorts for their runs, jogging shorts are expected to debut in the spring.

And a decision on whether the Air Force will adopt the heritage dress blue jacket could come later in 2009.

6. Good time to stay in your updated uniform

The Air Force dramatically expanded its selective re-enlistment bonus program for 2009, offering bonuses worth $136 million for airmen in 88 career fields in an attempt to boost flagging retention numbers. The service expects 9,800 airmen — roughly 56 percent of those who qualify — to take the re-enlistment money in fiscal 2009.

But get your SRB while the getting’s good: Air Force officials say it is too early to discuss the fiscal 2010 SRB program, but there are signs that it could be much smaller. Increasing popularity of the military as a career choice and pressure to curtail defense spending in tough times could make 2009 your best year for SRBs for some time.

7. Spread the good nukes

If 2008 was a hellish year for the Air Force’s nuclear enterprise — and it was — 2009 will be one to reshape it. The service will shift all its nuclear missions to the new Global Strike Command in the largest service reorganization since the early 1990s.

Look for Assistant Vice Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Frank G. Klotz to head the list of candidates to become the command’s first permanent commander because he has vast nuclear experience and served as director for nuclear policy and arms control for the National Security Council.

The command is temporarily headquartered at Bolling Air Force Base, Washington, D.C., but a permanent location has not yet been selected. Barksdale Air Force Base, La. — home of 8th Air Force — and Offutt Air Force Base, Neb. — home of U.S. Strategic Command — seem like probable destinations for the permanent location.

8. Cyber takes shape

The Air Force is expected to announce early in the new year a short list with four or five finalists for the 24th Air Force headquarters — that’s the long-planned Air Force Cyber Command. Turns out the unit will not be a command, but instead will be within Air Force Space Command.

the Air Force is expected in February to release a roadmap for how the unit will be organized. A final decision on the 24th HQ location should come later in the year.

9. UAV population explosion

The number of UAV orbits — defined as round-the-clock combat air patrols — above Iraq and Afghanistan jumped to 33 in 2008 and will grow to 50 by 2010. The biggest challenge in getting more Predators and Reapers in the air remains finding enough crews to operate them.

The Air Force is getting creative to solve that problem, and the first group of 10 nonrated officers will begin training in January. That program is likely to expand if the first group does well.

Chief of Staff Gen. Norton Schwartz also hasn’t ruled out allowing enlisted airmen fly UAVs, as they do in the Army.

10. Tanks a lot

By the end of 2009, airmen finally should know which new tanker and combat rescue helicopter they’ll be flying and maintaining — unless politics and protests drive the decisions into 2010.

Bungled efforts to choose the CSAR-X helicopter in 2006 and the KC-X tanker in 2008, combined with the change of White House administrations, pushed the second try at choosing both aircraft into 2009.

11. EPRs get real

Look for the era of “firewall 5s” to come to an end. Chief McKinley has spoken publicly about the need to end grade inflation on enlisted performance reports. Not every airman is outstanding and deserves 5s across the board, he has said.

But how he intends to combat that practice remains to be seen: New rules could include caps on the number of airmen who can receive top marks or micromanagement when it comes to what kind of airmen should receive 3s, 4s and 5s.

12. Better GI Bill, baby

One of the biggest advances in veterans’ benefits since World War II takes effect Aug. 1, when the flat-rate GI Bill transforms overnight into a plan that pays full public-school tuition plus stipends for housing and books for most students. Making the plan even more attractive is the possibility that career service members with at least 10 years of service could be allowed to transfer their unused benefits to their immediate family.

13. More family leave

Two changes in the Family and Medical Leave Act aimed directly at military families will take full effect in 2009, expanding unpaid leave for some family members.

One change allows up to 26 weeks of time off for family members to care for their severely injured service member. The leave, available only while the injured member is still in service, applies to spouses, children, parents, grandparents, siblings or other blood relatives who serve as caretakers.

More than one family member can use caregiver leave as long as the military person has not designated in writing that a single person is responsible for the service member’s care.

The second change applies to families of National Guard and reserve troops, who can receive up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave for a variety of deployment-related reasons, including taking time off for vacation if a mobilized reservist gets rest and relaxation leave during a deployment.

Families of active-duty troops do not qualify for this leave.

For both new military additions to the FMLA, eligible employees are those who work full time, at least 1,250 hours in the last 12 months, and at a location where a minimum of 50 workers are employed within 75 miles.

The new policies, approved by Congress and finalized by the Labor Department represent a major expansion of FMLA, which traditionally has applied to immediate family members and has been limited to 12 weeks.

More changes might be in the wind. It is unclear whether the omission of active-duty families from deployment-related leave was deliberate or an oversight by Congress, but it has prompted swift complaints from active-duty families because they have the same deployment issues.

Under the policy for Guard and reserve families, time off without penalty is provided if a service member gets less than seven days’ notice to deploy or to attend military-related events such as briefings, arrange emergency child care or school activities, take care of financial or legal business, take deployment-related counseling or take part in arrival ceremonies when the reservist returns and post-deployment events.

14. Household goods overhaul

Defense officials finally expect to take the new Defense Personal Property Program global in early February. A partial rollout, dubbed DP3, launched in 17 places in November.

Fifteen years in the making.

One big change affecting service members and defense civilians: The program automatically will assign the best-qualified moving company available at that time, replacing a system based on low bids. The new program also features direct communication between service members and moving companies, electronic claims filing and online tracking of shipments. And it gives full replacement value when household goods are lost or damaged.