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Force Shaping
11 years ago
By now I'm sure those of us serving on Active Duty status have heard about the FY14 force reduction measures being implemented, either via an email from SECAF or through the required "Town Hall" meetings Big Air Force has mandated every command to give to all E4s and above.
First and foremost: This is nothing new, radical, or unprecedented. With the general ebb and flow of things in the world, the military goes through its ups and downs between conflicts, during draw-downs after influx movements and whenever the budget mandates more with less.
Please take the time to read the information provided through these briefs and the AFPC website. Check your SURF to verify your code status and if you may or may not fall under one of the mitigating factors for the upcoming reduction. If you're a supervisor, learn what you can about the programs and pass the information on to your troops. If you're a young/new airman, learn what you can and ask questions. Make sure you're fully aware of the programs available, the options you have, and the processes in place.
This round of cuts will be conducted over the next 10 months, meaning that there is the possibility that some of us will not be employed by the DoD by the end of next year. If you're in an overmanned career field or have negative circumstances on your record, you stand a very real chance of being asked to or forced to leave the military ahead of your scheduled DOS.
Unfortunately this is life. When your company no longer has the money to pay it's employees, layoffs happen. The best thing you can do is understand the circumstances and prepare accordingly. If you are on the cut list or the at-risk list, make sure you understand the situation and the time frame. Understand that if you go before a review board and they rule against you staying in, how much time you have from that date before you're forced out. Know what is being offered in the voluntary separation programs as well as the involuntary ones.
I know it's early and some of this information is still being sent out and more will become clear over the coming couple of weeks as Big Air Force puts out more intel and starts rolling out the emails to those being affected.
The worst thing you can do is ignore the situation, not ask questions and not be prepared. Read, ask, prepare.
More updates may be forthcoming as the situation develops.
If you have questions or concerns, feel free to Note me either here or on my personal account. I've read all the memorandums currently available and can give guidance/information or at least point you in the right direction if need be.
Be flexible. Changes are coming, they wont be easy and chances are if you aren't impacted directly, you'll know someone that is.
Carry on....
~The NCOIC
First and foremost: This is nothing new, radical, or unprecedented. With the general ebb and flow of things in the world, the military goes through its ups and downs between conflicts, during draw-downs after influx movements and whenever the budget mandates more with less.
Please take the time to read the information provided through these briefs and the AFPC website. Check your SURF to verify your code status and if you may or may not fall under one of the mitigating factors for the upcoming reduction. If you're a supervisor, learn what you can about the programs and pass the information on to your troops. If you're a young/new airman, learn what you can and ask questions. Make sure you're fully aware of the programs available, the options you have, and the processes in place.
This round of cuts will be conducted over the next 10 months, meaning that there is the possibility that some of us will not be employed by the DoD by the end of next year. If you're in an overmanned career field or have negative circumstances on your record, you stand a very real chance of being asked to or forced to leave the military ahead of your scheduled DOS.
Unfortunately this is life. When your company no longer has the money to pay it's employees, layoffs happen. The best thing you can do is understand the circumstances and prepare accordingly. If you are on the cut list or the at-risk list, make sure you understand the situation and the time frame. Understand that if you go before a review board and they rule against you staying in, how much time you have from that date before you're forced out. Know what is being offered in the voluntary separation programs as well as the involuntary ones.
I know it's early and some of this information is still being sent out and more will become clear over the coming couple of weeks as Big Air Force puts out more intel and starts rolling out the emails to those being affected.
The worst thing you can do is ignore the situation, not ask questions and not be prepared. Read, ask, prepare.
More updates may be forthcoming as the situation develops.
If you have questions or concerns, feel free to Note me either here or on my personal account. I've read all the memorandums currently available and can give guidance/information or at least point you in the right direction if need be.
Be flexible. Changes are coming, they wont be easy and chances are if you aren't impacted directly, you'll know someone that is.
Carry on....
~The NCOIC
"Do more with less."
"We're not downsizing, we're right-sizing."
...what is it this time?
My big fear is that, while we're going to try to keep the best Airmen we can, we may see them quit because of burnout.
I know that doesn't do much to change the angst of the situation, but knowing 40 days out is better than learning 3 days out.
That being said, OTS might be on a different set of criteria from cross-training. Different budget concerns, constraints and quotas than the enlisted ranks that can fuel changes and cutbacks.
All in all I don't know if I will extend my enlistment following how things are being handled, but I suppose I still have time to figure that out in detail later.
I had planned to go to collage, so the choice was easy. Also, the reserves were still accepting new files. The end of the draft had cut their applications.
I haven't noticed the recruiting service closing offices. Always consider changing AFSC's.
I went from supply to aircraft maintenance and did okay.