Editor’s Note: The “People First” section is compiled from information from the Air Force Personnel Center, TRICARE, 56th Force Support Squadron, Airman and Family Readiness Flight, Veterans Affairs, the civilian personnel office and armed forces news services. For the complete story, go to the web address listed at the end of the story.
290-plus selected for academic, career broadening opportunities
More than 290 officers have been selected for advanced academic degree and career broadening opportunities, Air Force Personnel Center officials announced.
Selection for an advanced academic degree or special experience exchange duty slot is an important step in an officer’s career, said Angel Espinosa, AFPC staff and special duty assignments.
“Officers selected will complete a degree in a discipline consistent with their Air Force career field, and after completion will use that advanced degree in support of Air Force mission needs,” he said. “That could include working in the National Reconnaissance Office, or serving as an Air Force Academy or Air Force Institute of Technology faculty member.”
Advanced degrees are only one aspect of the program. Applicants selected for the special experience exchange program will work temporarily outside their career fields, either with other Air Force functions, other federal agencies or for civilian companies.
http://www.af.mil/news/story_print.asp?id=123328254
SecAF declares ‘Modernization can’t wait’
The Air Force’s senior civilian addressed the importance of modernization and the challenges ahead for the Air Force at the 2012 Aerospace and Defense Investor Conference Nov. 29.
“Among the most difficult challenges facing the Air Force is the need to modernize our aging aircraft inventory as the defense budget declines,” said Secretary of the Air Force Michael Donley. “New threats and technologies require new investments.”
He specifically addressed the need for modernization among fighter, tanker, bomber, space and intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance platforms as “high priority investments,” while other important capabilities like a new trainer and joint surveillance and target attack radar system are not yet funded.
http://www.af.mil/news/story_print.asp?id=123328128
Scholarships for military children opened Dec. 3
In 2012, the Scholarships for Military Children Program celebrated a major milestone as it reached more than $10 million in scholarships awarded to 6,742 students from around the globe.
Applications for the 2013 Scholarships for Military Children Program are now available at commissaries worldwide. They can also be found online through a link at http://www.commissaries.com and directly at http://www.militaryscholar.org.
Scholarship awards will be based on funds available, but the scholarship program awards at least $1,500 at each commissary. If there are no eligible applicants from a particular commissary, the funds designated for that commissary will be awarded as an additional scholarship at another store.
The scholarship program was created to recognize military families’ contributions to the readiness of U.S. armed forces and to celebrate the commissary’s role in the military community.
http://www.af.mil/news/story_print.asp?id=123328112
Language enabled airman program announces selections
Foreign language experts from around the Air Force recently met at the Air Force Culture and Language Center at Maxwell Air Force Base, Ala., part of Air University’s Spaatz Center for Officer Education, to select the latest participants for the Air Force’s Language Enabled Airman Program. More than 500 people from across the Air Force applied and officials notified 206 Airmen of their selection to LEAP.
The recent selection board was unique, said Jay Warwick, AFCLC director. For the first time since the program’s activation in 2009, a large number of enlisted candidates were able to apply.
LEAP is a career-spanning program to select, develop and sustain foreign language capability and cross-cultural competence.
