COMMANDER’S CORNER: DO YOU WANT A DISCOUNT? - PAGE 2 Peterson Air Force Base, Colorado
Thursday, February 16, 2017
Vol. 61 No. 7
RETRAINING: Where there is a will, there is a way By Senior Airman Rose Gudex 21st Space Wing Public Affairs
PETERSON AIR FORCE BASE, Colo. — Sometimes the call to serve is so great, an individual may accept a career that wasn’t their first or second choice, or even on their wish list at all. In some cases, the Airman ends up excelling and enjoying what they do. Others may want to gain a new skill set. For Airmen who want to pursue a different career field, there is a chance to retrain into another which may be better suited to them. There are many options and resources available at Peterson Air Force Base, Colorado, including a career assistance advisor. The first thing to know is most career fields have a specific retraining window, said Master Sgt. Matthew Heenan, 21st Force Support Squadron career assistance advisor. He asks prospective retrainees when their date of separation is and tells them to subtract 13 months, which is when their retraining window opens. It closes eight months later. “It’s a great retention tool for the Air Force so Airmen aren’t getting out after four years,” he said. “Just because an Airman doesn’t do well in one career field, doesn’t make them a bad Airman or mean they can’t continue to serve.” See Retrain page 7
(U.S. Air Force photo by Senior Airman Rose Gudex)
PETERSON AIR FORCE BASE, Colo. – Staff Sgt. Derrek DeHerrera, 561st Network Operations Squadron vulnerability remediation supervisor, works on a central processing unit while visiting his old office, the 21st Communications Squadron, on Peterson Air Force Base, Colo., Jan. 27, 2017. DeHerrera went to Korea as client systems, retrained into cyber systems operations, and was stationed back at Peterson.
From idea to reality: Airman transforms lengthy training with innovative approach By Airman 1st Class Dennis Hoffman 21st Space Wing Public Affairs
(U.S. Air Force photo by Airman 1st Class Dennis Hoffman)
PETERSON AIR FORCE BASE, Colo. — Laura Rolfe, 21st Force Support Squadron civilian personnel flight employee relations specialist, trains supervisors on the new Department of Defense Performance Management and Appraisal Program at Peterson Air Force Base, Colo., Feb. 7, 2017. After a December class, an Air Force Space Command representative commended Rolfe and her team on her DPMAP training, and other space wings have showed interest in disseminating the class to their supervisors.
INSIDE News Briefs Crossword Classifieds
1-18 4 19 20
Making your “first” Page 3
PETERSON AIR FORCE BASE, Colo. — Seventeen hours of an in-house training session? Please for the love of everything good in this world, no — please no. Five hour computer based training? Save us Chuck Norris. If it weren’t for the innovative approach Laura Rolfe, 21st Force Support Squadron civilian personnel flight employee relations specialist, took when creating a mandatory training course, those numbers would be a reality. Instead, her training is an action-packed two-and-a-half hours of broken-down, consumable information about the DoD’s new performance management program. Thanks to Rolfe, the newly implemented Department of Defense Performance Management and Appraisal Program training has been whittled down to a more manageable session. The training is being considered by Air Force Space Command to be the flagship course for supervisors and commanders in the MAJCOM. On Oct. 28, 2009, the authority for the DoD’s National Security Personnel System was repealed by section 1113 of the National Defense Authorization Act of fiscal year 2010. For the past six years, each respective military branch has been implementing their own appraisal program for their DoD civilians, and now they will be under the same system.
Space aggressors jam AF, allies’ systems Page 11
See Innovative page 10
Blackjack engineers tackle “Work Week” Page 12