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.
Goldfein addresses readiness, budget
Military vice chiefs testified about the current state of readiness of U.S. forces March 15 before the Senate Armed Services Subcommittee on Readiness and Management Support on Capitol Hill.
Air Force Vice Chief of Staff Gen. David Goldfein shared concerns about the service’s ability to continue to defend against adversaries who continue to improve their capabilities.
The vice chief told the committee that America’s adversaries are closing the capability gap in space and cyberspace. According to Goldfein, the strategic capability advantage over competitors is shrinking, and the ability to project strategic deterrence is being challenged.
He stated that the Air Force continues to provide the lion’s share of military effort against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant in the Middle East and is heavily active in Afghanistan. He added that a return of sequestration would impair and delay readiness goals.
AFSVA gets ready for 2016 youth camps
Teenagers looking to cure those summertime blues will have various camps to choose from this year, thanks to central funding from the Air Force Services Activity, also known as AFSVA.
Teen family members of active-duty military assigned to or working or living on an Air Force led/joint installation; retired Airmen; Air Force civilian employees; Air National Guard; or Air Force Reserve are eligible.
Teen Aviation Camp is offered June 17-24. Youth entering their sophomore or junior year of high school in fall 2016 can apply to attend the Teen Aviation Camp at the U.S. Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, Colorado.
This isn’t your ordinary summer camp, said Kevin Hansen, youth specialist for AFSVA. Several camp attendees have gone on to attend the Air Force academy, other service academies or pursued ROTC in college.
“It’s extremely competitive,” Hansen said of the camp. “There are 36 spaces available, and on average 150 youth apply.”
During the application process, academics and extracurricular activities are evaluated.
Air University students win at cyber policy competition
Two teams of Air Command and Staff College students took top honors at the Atlantic Council Cyber 9/12 Student Challenge in Washington, D.C., on March 11 and 12.
The annual event is an interactive learning experience and competition that puts students in a mock National Security Council environment to analyze how the U.S. should respond to a realistic, complex and evolving cyber-enabled malicious activity that poses an ambiguous threat to national security and economic vitality and could potentially destabilize the international environment, said Dr. Pano Yannakogeorgos, dean of Air University’s Air Force Cyber College.
“Team Fightin’ Electrons” beat out 39 other teams to win the overall competition. The team also won the Military Cyberspace Professional Association’s Order of the Thor medal for best military team.
The “Cyber Jedi” team won the Most Creative Cyber Policy Solution Award.
“Both teams performed tremendously, with awards and recognition for all. The students validated the Cyber College programs at Air University,” said Yannakogeorgos, who, along with Col. Ronald Banks, Air War College vice commandant and Cyber College faculty member, coached the Air University teams.
Event recognizes importance of wingmen all year
Senior leaders kicked off the Air Force’s Sexual Assault Prevention and Response #notjustApril campaign March 17 during an event at the Pentagon.
The secretary, chief of staff and chief master sgt. of the Air Force joined other Airmen to read testimonies from sexual assault survivors and discussed Airmen’s roles in supporting sexual assault survivors and preventing this crime.
The event promoting the #notjustApril campaign came in front of the Defense Department’s official recognition of Sexual Assault Awareness Month in April to highlight the importance of Airmen’s engagement all year.
Using the Air Force core values as the foundation for her comments, Air Force Secretary Deborah Lee James said integrity is imperative in this issue and the Air Force needs to look in the mirror and accept the fact that there is a problem.
