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AF selects 16,506 for promotion to staff sergeant

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Out of the 39,064 eligible senior airmen, 16,506 were selected for promotion to staff sergeant, Air Force officials announced Aug. 25.

The overall selection rate was 42.25 percent, with an average selectee overall score of 360.88. Officials selected 2,318 Airmen with a promote now recommendation for 14.04 percent of the total selects; 5,762 Airmen with a must promote recommendation for 34.91 percent of the total selects; and 8,426 Airmen with a promote recommendation for 51.05 percent of the total selects.

Within the promotion recommendation groups, 98.6 percent of eligible Airmen with a promote now recommendation were selected, 88.2 percent of those in the must promote recommendation group were selected and 29.1 percent in the promote recommendation group were selected. This matches the intent of those with a promote now receiving a “significant advantage over their peers,” those with a must promote receiving an “advantage over their peers,” and those with a promote receiving a rating “relative to their peers.”

According to Air Force officials, the percentages show that the system is highlighting top performers while still affording opportunities to high-performing Airmen with a promote recommendation. These results continue to achieve the intended purpose of the new enlisted evaluation system.

The staff sergeant promotion list is available on the Air Force Portal and myPers. Airmen can also access their score notices on the virtual MPF via the secure applications page.

Selectees will be promoted in order of promotion sequence number beginning in September.

For more information about Air Force personnel programs, go to the myPers website.

DOD makes last-minute push for food donations in ‘Feds Feed Families’

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DOD photograph by Lisa Ferdinando

Diane Carter and her husband, William Carter, explain how the Bread of Life Food Pantry benefits from the Feds Feeding Families campaign during a charity fair at the Pentagon, Aug. 23, 2016.

Diane Carter remembers what it was like to go hungry.
“There were many times that we would go without just to feed the kids,” Carter said at the Pentagon today at a charity fair for the Feds Feed Families initiative.  “And at one point in time … I had sold everything in my house, all my furniture and everything, just to feed the kids.

“We were eating biscuits and beans and I was on welfare, because my previous husband had died,” she continued. “We were struggling. We know. We’ve been there.”

Eventually, the situation turned around for Carter and her now-husband William. They obtained good jobs and retired. Now they spend their days as full-time volunteers at the Bread of Life Food Pantry in Manassas, Virginia.

The Carters were at the Pentagon telling federal employees about how the pantry benefits from the Feds Feed Families campaign, a governmentwide initiative that kicked off June 1 and runs through the end of this month.

Important initiative
The campaign collects nonperishable food items to help food banks during the summer, when donations usually decrease but need tends to increase, according to the Department of Agriculture, which is leading the annual effort.

The food drive has collected nearly 57.2 million pounds of food since 2009. Last year, more than 17.9 million pounds were donated across the federal government.

Todd A. Weiler, the assistant secretary of defense for manpower and reserve affairs, stopped by and thanked the participants for all they are doing to help those in need. His hope, he said, is for the donations from the Defense Department to top last year’s contribution of more than 3.2 million pounds.

Todd A. Weiler, assistant secretary of defense for manpower and reserve affairs, poses with federal workers and charity representatives at the Feds Feeding Families charity fair at the Pentagon, Aug. 23, 2016.

“I am so impressed by the work that’s being done here,” he said. “I want to thank everyone for participating in this effort. Feds Feed Families is a very important program across the federal government, but I think even more so here in the Department of Defense.”

It is vital that DoD helps, he said, because the communities in need are the same ones that give their sons and daughters for service in the military. “I think it’s very important that we continue that communication, that linkage, with our communities across the nation,” he added.

Every donation helps
After placing a food donation in a collection box, DOD employee Naniece Shields said she is happy to give and proud to work for an agency that helps others.

“I know it’s the right thing to do. A lot of people do go hungry,” Shields said. “There are a lot of kids out here who do go hungry at night, so I just felt it was my duty.”

Shields, whose donation today included canned food, dry goods and juice, said she has been buying and donating nonperishable items all month, after she and her gym class were encouraged by the instructor to participate. “The purpose is to help feed families and to stop hunger in America,” she said.

The donations in the metro Washington area are distributed to local food banks by the Capital Area Food Bank.

Food donations fill a box at the charity fair for the Feds Feed Families initiative at the Pentagon, Aug. 23, 2016.

Linda Patterson is the executive director with Lorton Community Action Center in Lorton, Virginia, which is a partner agency with the Capital Area Food Bank and receives donations from the Feds Feed Families food drive.

Donations are critical to the operation, Patterson said. “We serve 210 families a week through our food pantry and it wouldn’t be possible without our partnership with the Capital Area Food Bank,” she said.

Randy Eller, the deputy director of logistics for the Defense Commissary Agency, was on hand to assist authorized commissary patrons in purchasing food packages that will be assembled and distributed. “Every commissary that we have within the United States has donation boxes and serves as a collection point for every installation,” he said.

Eller said he is always impressed and amazed at the generosity of those who participate.

“This program is just fantastic — it generates hundreds of thousands of pounds of donations every year, so we are proud to assist,” he said.

700,000 at risk in the D.C. area
With its wealthy areas, it might be easy for people to think that hunger does not exist in the metro Washington area, according to Holly Prater with the Capital Area Food Bank.

She said 700,000 residents in the local Washington area — 16 percent of the region — are at risk of hunger. “They don’t know where their next meal is going to be coming from,” she said.

Prater is grateful for the support from the federal government. “It’s amazing. This is one of our biggest food drives of the year. The food really helps,” she said.

Air Force releases FY17 first-term Airman retraining quotas

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The Air Force has approved 1,688 fiscal year 2017 retraining quotas in 74 Air Force specialty codes for eligible active duty first-term Airmen.

“The First Term Airman Retraining Program allows first-term Airmen, including staff sergeants who are in their first enlistment, to retrain in conjunction with a reenlistment,” said MSgt. Kris Reece, retraining policy and procedures superintendent at the Air Force Personnel Center. “This is a great opportunity for Airmen to pursue a different career field while enabling the Air Force to maintain a healthy balance in all enlisted career fields.”

New this year for Airmen interested in retraining is the Air Force Work Interest Navigator tool. The tool, available on the Retraining page on myPers, helps Airmen identify potential career fields by answering a series of questions about functional communities, job context and work activities.

“The AF-WIN tool creates a customized job-interest report from your responses and compares your interests to all entry-level AFSCs,” Reece said. “You’ll still want to visit the enlisted retraining advisory, however, because AF-WIN doesn’t tell you if that career field is available or if you’re eligible.”

Retraining opportunities are available in a variety of career fields including cyber, intel, pararescue, flight engineer, missile and space facilities and more. Most are open to all eligible Airmen, but some, such as the Aerospace Medical Service AFSC, require prior qualifications.

The enlisted retraining advisory on myPers is updated in real time, Reece said, and helps Airmen to identify the careers fields with retraining-in quotas in their grade (or projected grade if selected) into which they may be interested in retraining. Standard retraining eligibility and AFSC entry requirements apply for all retraining applicants.

NCO retraining quotas will be announced when they become available.

Retraining information is available and continuously updated on myPers. Click “Retraining” from the active duty enlisted landing page. The online training advisory is listed under the “Tools” section. In addition, a live chat feature is available for Airmen on the “First Term Airmen Retraining” page. To chat live with a Total Force Service Center representative, go to the page and allow about 30 to 60 seconds to enable a representative to come online.

For more information about Air Force personnel programs, go to the myPers website.

Windows 10 to deploy across AF

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The Air Force is slated to upgrade to Windows 10 over the next couple years to improve the Air Force’s cybersecurity posture, lower the cost of information technology and streamline the IT operating environment.

Windows 10 provides improved security features to mitigate cyber threats and a common baseline for Air Force cyber operators to manage, thereby reducing costs.

The Air Force is taking this action because the Defense Department directed the transition to a Microsoft Windows 10 secure host baseline across the DOD.

Windows 10 will become the standard operating system for Microsoft Windows clients across the Air Force Network. Other types of clients, such as iPads and other devices that use non-Windows operating systems, are not within the scope of this effort.

As a result of the DOD’s mandate, a significant portion of the Air Force client inventory will need to be replaced.

Migration will begin late 2016 as part of each base’s computer technology refresh efforts. Units are authorized to upgrade existing devices or purchase new tablets and laptops through AFWay and should refrain from purchasing desktops unless their mission dictates otherwise. In many cases, users will receive replacement mobile computers with Windows 10 preloaded, while remaining users will have their existing computers upgraded to the new operating system. Affected users will be informed on how to back up and restore their data.

Systems that currently run Windows 10 will still need to be upgraded to the standard desktop configuration to leverage cyber security improvements. The standard desktop configuration provides a single standard, enterprise-wide managed environment across the Air Force Network.

New security features in Windows 10 will allow the Air Force and DOD to install software patches faster and counter a major cyber-intrusion technique called “pass the hash.” Using this technique, attackers may access remote servers by using a stored hash, or a one-way transformation, of a user’s password rather than the standard plain text password. The new operating system also will increase accountability and transparency across DOD networks, allowing cyber defenders to better detect malicious activity.

Scheduled completion date for all Air Force Network (Non-Secure Internet Protocol Router and Secure Internet Protocol Router networks) users is Jan. 31, 2018.

Air Force STEM scholarships available to college students

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Eric Wineman completed both his undergraduate and master’s degrees with no student loan debt and now works for the Air Force as an electronics engineer, courtesy of the Science, Mathematics and Research for Transformation Scholarship for Service Program.

Part of the National Defense Education Program, SMART was established by the Department of Defense to provide an opportunity for undergraduate and graduate students pursuing degrees in science, technology, engineering and mathematics disciplines critical to national security functions to receive a full scholarship and post-graduate employment.

“I had been working since I was 15 years old as a grocery stocker and dishwasher, saving all my money for college,” Wineman said. “I was attending Texas A&M-Kingsville and low on funds in my sophomore year. My dad said, ‘Try and apply for this. It’ll pay your way through college and give you a guaranteed job when you get out.’ I said I’d look into it.”

The program aims to increase the number of civilian scientists, engineers and mathematicians working throughout the DOD on some of the world’s interesting research projects and problems. In addition to working alongside some of the innovative minds in the world, SMART scholars also have access to many one-of-a-kind, world-class facilities.

“Lots of people are getting ready to retire and we don’t necessary have the workforce to replace their combined knowledge,” Wineman said. “In SMART, they mentor us and pass down their expertise. SMART interns and graduates also bring a fresh look on things, particularly as more areas migrate to computerized design, 3D printing and the digital age overall.”

Participants in SMART receive many benefits, chief among them being full tuition and education-related fees and an annual stipend of $25,000 to $38,000, depending on prior educational experience.

Scholarship awardees are assigned to a DOD facility where they are expected to serve as a summer intern and complete a period of post-graduation employment service as a DOD civilian.

Alyssa Rahman is an Air Force SMART intern from Maumelle, Ark., currently in her senior year studying computer science with a security specialization at Southern Methodist University.

“I looked at government scholarships right out of high school, but I didn’t want to commit at that time because I didn’t know what I wanted to do,” Rahman said. “My mom found this one searching online for different security-related scholarships. I applied, and now I’m here!”

The employment obligation to the DOD civilian science and technology workforce upon graduation is a one-to-one commitment. Scholarship participants commit to one year of civilian employment with DOD for each academic year of scholarship award.

“The government is opening up a whole other opportunity after I finish my commitment,” Rahman said. “One of the greatest advantages of SMART is the way they place the interns. I’m interacting with different teams and meeting a bunch of different people. I’m actually kind of overwhelmed with all of the options afforded to us.”

“My only regret is not seeing the SMART program sooner,” Wineman said. “It would have saved me a lot of time and effort that wasn’t necessarily along my career path.”

All awardees should be at least 18 years old as of Aug. 1, 2017, and a student in good standing with a minimum cumulative grade point average of 3.0 on a 4.0 scale at the time of award.

Active duty military members who wish to apply for the SMART scholarship must be honorably separated or begin terminal leave on or before Aug. 1, 2017, to be eligible. Reserve and National Guard members are eligible to apply as are current government employees. The scholarship application deadline is Dec. 1, 2016.

Additional information and complete eligibility requirements are available on the SMART website at https://smart.asee.org/?source=GovD. For more information about Air Force personnel programs, go to the myPers website at https://mypers.af.mil/.

Nominations for first Air Force enlisted RPA pilots being accepted

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The Air Force is accepting nominations to fill its first class of enlisted remotely piloted aircraft pilots as part of a deliberate approach to enhance the Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance mission.

The first enlisted RPA pilot selection board will convene at the Air Force Personnel Center, Jan. 23-26, 2017, with application packages due to AFPC by Nov. 18. The selection board process mirrors that of the undergraduate flying training program and allows candidates time to complete all eligibility requirements.

“The Air Force will take advantage of this opportunity to integrate enlisted pilots into the RQ-4 Global Hawk community,” said CMSgt. Eric Rigby, Enlisted Aircrew Assignments Chief at AFPC. “RQ-4 is the most established of our RPA communities and presents an opportunity to posture our force in a new way for the dynamic future operating environment in Air, Space and Cyberspace.” 

Applicants must be staff sergeant through senior master sergeant from the 1A and 1U career fields and have six years of retainability upon course graduation.

“We have an incredibly talented pool of enlisted Airmen, and we’re confident that a rigorous selection process will yield excellent enlisted aircrew who will continue to provide combatant commanders with the ISR they need to win today’s fight,” Rigby said.

The end-goal is to have the RQ-4 Global Hawk enterprise manned by a majority of enlisted pilots in day-to-day operations with key leadership positions filled by officers experienced in the ISR mission set.

“We have incorporated lessons learned from integrating enlisted Airmen into space and cyber mission areas,” Rigby said. “This proactive step will make the most of the capabilities of our enlisted force to provide options that build a more agile ISR force in the future.”

Search for eligibility and application requirements on myPers with the keyword “Enlisted RPA.”

For more information about Air Force personnel programs, go to the myPers website at https://mypers.af.mil/.

Some IDs may be invalid starting Aug. 15

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Individuals will no longer be able to access Air Force installations with a state-issued identification card or driver’s license from Minnesota, Missouri, Washington or American Samoa beginning Aug. 15, 2016.

This new change aligns the Air Force’s installation access policy with requirements of the Real ID Act, which focuses on improving the reliability of state-issued identification documents and helps prevent a person’s ability to evade detection by using a fraudulent form of ID.

While ID’s that do not meet security and data-collection guidelines will not be accepted, alternate forms of identification will be allowed. Some of the more common alternatives include a valid U.S. or foreign government issued passport, an employment authorization document that contains a photograph, or ID cards issued by federal state or local government agencies that include a photo and biographic information.

According to Air Force officials, all individuals attempting to gain access to an Air Force installation without a Defense Department ID card will be subject to a routine background check.

Those who do not have the accepted documentation for installation access will not be permitted to enter the base without an approved escort.

“If an individual is escorted, the sponsor is required to be physically present with the individual for the duration of the visit to the base,” said Lt. Col. Tony Castillo, the branch chief of police services. “Installation commanders may still deny access and issuance of access credentials if their background check determines the individual represents a threat or negatively impacts the safety or security of an installation’s personnel or resources.”

For a full list of Real ID Act compliant and non-complaint states, visit the Department of Homeland Security’s website at https://www.dhs.gov/current-status-states-territories.

Goldfein hosts first town hall with CMSAF

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Air Force photograph by SrA. Hailey Haux

#ICYMI: Here is a higher quality video of the town hall hosted…

#ICYMI: Here is a higher quality video of the town hall hosted by Gen. David L. Goldfein and CMSAF James A. Cody on July 20, 2016.

Posted by United States Air Force on Thursday, July 21, 2016

The Air Force’s top officer and enlisted leader hosted a town hall forum in the Boyd Auditorium at Maxwell Air Force Base, Ala., July 20, 2016.

During the 70-minute forum, Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. David L. Goldfein and Chief Master Sgt. of the Air Force James A. Cody answered several questions from the crowd and addressed their key concerns.

“What I have found over my career is, to have staying power, you have to spend time listening,” Goldfein said. “So, for Chief Cody and I, this is actually about squinting with our ears and actually listening to what’s on your mind and giving you straight talk.”

One concern weighing on many Airmen’s minds was the recent Senate proposal to overhaul basic allowance for housing.

“We don’t think it’s a good idea,” Cody said. “There has been a lot of effort by all of our senior leadership to go (to Congress) and have conversations with senators on this.”

An Airman from Maxwell Air Force Base, Ala., asks Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. David L. Goldfein and Chief Master Sgt. of the Air Force James A. Cody a question during a town hall event July 20, 2016. The Air Force’s two most senior leaders answered multiple questions from the audience, addressing the Airmen’s concerns.

A range of questions were asked on various aspects of the Air Force, from leadership and command and control, to on-base housing and warfighting.

One question allowed Goldfein to state his vision for the Air Force.

“I look at the global landscape and the building of joint task forces that operate trans-regionally across geographic combatant commands … what I see is an Air Force that is equally capable of supporting or being supported in the business of joint-combined arms warfare in the future,” Goldfein said.

Concluding the town hall, Goldfein left the audience with one final thought.

“Our charter as airmen is to take the greatest treasure in our nation’s arsenal, which is the young men and women who choose to serve and put on this uniform, and we mold, train and develop them,” Goldfein said. “And through our domain through air and space, we make the world a better place for our kids — that’s our call and that’s why we serve.”

Changing Air Force healthcare through innovation

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FALLS CHURCH, Va.– Innovation is a buzzword often associated with new technology platforms or successful sports teams, but in reality innovation can apply anywhere someone comes up with a new idea or way of doing something.

When it comes to health innovation and research, it’s all about finding new solutions to improve healthcare throughout the Air Force.

“There’s always a better way of doing something. Sometimes you have to break something down to rebuild it,” said Glenn Conway, Air Force Medical Service Innovations and Personalized Medicine program analyst. “It’s good we have such a diverse group of Airmen that everyone doesn’t think alike, and that in itself sparks innovation. It’s truly a game-changer if you can get to the heart of it.”

There are teams all over the country working to change the game for AFMS. The 711th Human Performance Wing at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, has a standing mission to improve human performance in the air, space, and cyberspace. They have teams dedicated to everything from studying brain injuries to how to cool water for Airmen deployed in hot environments.

The 59th Medical Wing at Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland, Texas, has teams doing research into all new ways to provide healthcare in the field – including the ability to perform surgical operations in the sky. Col. Mark Ervin, Chief of Operational Medicine for the 59th Medical Wing said, “The Air Force is, and should be, the first capability as a medical projection force. We’re able to put incredible amounts of care on the back of an airplane. We can convert that aircraft into a flying ICU as far as trauma surgery is concerned.”

This sort of research leads to all new technologies and developments that can radically change the Air Force for the better. With Total Exposure Health, an innovative strategy currently being developed by the Air Force, there’s a team of medical professionals and bioenvironmental engineers looking at ways to prevent illness from ever occurring in the first place by addressing how individuals respond to the different exposures in their environment.

“We can make a change now and it can be beneficial to anybody because, unless you have a disease, you have the opportunity to prevent it,” said Col. Kirk Phillips, Bioenvironmental Engineering Branch Chief for the Air Force Medical Service Agency. “So I get really excited when I think about what we can do for our families in ways we’ve never done it before.”

The potential products coming out of these Innovations teams vary from syringes that can safely inject foam into the body to stop blood loss to using virtual reality and satellites to assist emergency medical teams isolated in the field. There are departments researching everything from genetic profiles and nanotechnology to how to safely land a medical team on a hostile runway.

True innovations come in all sizes, too. While some might change how we do things in the future, others are happening right now. Military treatment facilities everywhere are making advancements that will save money, save lives and create a better Air Force.

Throughout July, which is Health Innovation and Research Month, we will explore as many of these topics as possible and look at all the ways these innovations teams are revolutionizing Air Force healthcare.

Nominations for first Air Force enlisted RPA pilots being accepted

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The Air Force is accepting nominations to fill its first class of enlisted remotely piloted aircraft pilots as part of a deliberate approach to enhance the Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance mission.

The first enlisted RPA pilot selection board will convene at the Air Force Personnel Center, Jan. 23-26, 2017, with application packages due to AFPC by Nov. 18. The selection board process mirrors that of the undergraduate flying training program and allows candidates time to complete all eligibility requirements.

“The Air Force will take advantage of this opportunity to integrate enlisted pilots into the RQ-4 Global Hawk community,” said CMSgt. Eric Rigby, Enlisted Aircrew Assignments Chief at AFPC. “RQ-4 is the most established of our RPA communities and presents an opportunity to posture our force in a new way for the dynamic future operating environment in Air, Space and Cyberspace.”

Applicants must be staff sergeant through senior master sergeant from the 1A and 1U career fields and have six years of retainability upon course graduation.

“We have an incredibly talented pool of enlisted Airmen, and we’re confident that a rigorous selection process will yield excellent enlisted aircrew who will continue to provide combatant commanders with the ISR they need to win today’s fight,” Rigby said.

The end-goal is to have the RQ-4 Global Hawk enterprise manned by a majority of enlisted pilots in day-to-day operations with key leadership positions filled by officers experienced in the ISR mission set.

“We have incorporated lessons learned from integrating enlisted airmen into space and cyber mission areas,” Rigby said. “This proactive step will make the most of the capabilities of our enlisted force to provide options that build a more agile ISR force in the future.”

Search for eligibility and application requirements on myPers with the keyword “Enlisted RPA.” For more information about Air Force personnel programs, go to the myPers website at https://mypers.af.mil.