14 minute read
Week in photos
Photo by Staff Sgt. Jake Carter
Col. Chris Jones, Task Force Liberty J4 commander, briefs Secretary of the Air Force Frank Kendall, Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. CQ Brown, Jr., and Chief Master Sergeant of the Air Force JoAnne Bass, during a walk-through of tent living quarters inside Liberty Village on Joint Base McGuire-DixLakehurst, N.J., Sept. 25. The Department of Defense, through U.S. Northern Command, and in support of the Department of Homeland Security, is providing transportation, temporary housing, medical screening and general support for at least 50,000 Afghan evacuees at suitable facilities, in permanent or temporary structures, as quickly as possible. The initiative provides Afghan personnel essential support at secure locations outside Afghanistan.
Photo by Airman 1st Class Charles Munoz
Airmen assigned to the 90th Security Forces Squadron participate in Crow Creek Challenge 2021 at F.E. Warren Air Force Base, Wyo., Oct. 1. The annual event tests Airmen’s physical abilities and mental fortitude through tasks including fireman and litter carries, a Humvee push, mock explosive ordnance device searches and career field knowledge checks given by security forces subject matter experts.
Photo by Brian G. Rhodes
Survival, evasion, resistance and escape instructors and trainees participate in the SERE Specialist Training Orientation Course at Joint Base San Antonio-Camp Bullis, Texas, Sept. 21. The SERE training orientation is a 15-day course designed to gauge the trainees’ potential success in the SERE pipeline. The trainees are evaluated on their physical fitness, leadership and followership abilities, time management, speaking ability and commitment to becoming a SERE specialist.
In a giant leap toward increasing diversity within its ranks, the Department of the Air Force recently made changes to its qualifying test for officers. By reducing the mandatory delay between tests from 180 to 90 days and allowing for ‘super-scoring’ of test subcategories, much like college SAT and ACT scoring, DAF is making headway in modernizing its approach to accessions and human capital management. These changes are expected to increase the pool of qualified applicants without adjusting standards, and are expected to have the most impact in underrepresented racial and ethnic groups.
Since 1953, the primary test the DAF uses to measure and align officers is the Air Force Officer Qualifying Test. The AFOQT is a managed aptitude test utilized to select the most qualified pool of officers and outplace candidates to job-specific functions. The AFOQT is divided into 12 subtests, with results in the following areas: quantitative, verbal, academic aptitude, pilot, combat systems officer and air battle manager. While the AFOQT has proven to be beneficial, the validity, fairness, and bias of the test are continuously being scrutinized to ensure the DAF is able to recruit and use America’s top talent.
The Hispanic Empowerment and Advancement Team, a DAF Barrier Analysis Working Group, sought feedback from across the total force on how the AFOQT presents testing barriers that do not allow qualified, English as a second language candidates to serve in the DAF. Maj. Rafael, the lead for the HEAT’s overcoming language barriers line of effort, analyzed the issue and advocated for AFOQT modernization to ensure the test continues to maintain a high standard for its officers and is equitable for Hispanic officer candidates who desire to serve their country.
The HEAT line of effort complements the initiatives of the Air Force Pilot Selection Process Working Group, led by Air Education and Training Command. This working group, which includes experts from the Air Force Personnel Center and HAF/A1, conducted extensive research to identify and remove barriers for qualified candidates and improve diversity, while upholding standards of excellence when selecting pilot candidates. The working group has provided 12 comprehensive recommendations, including updates to the Pilot Candidate Selection Method and modernizing the AFOQT, to provide more diverse qualified candidates.
Here are the recently implemented changes that resulted from the Pilot Selection Process Working Group’s recommendations: n Minimum time allowed between testing: Previously, 180 days. Now, 90 days. n Super-scoring: Previously, AFOQT scores associated with only a single test administration were used. Now, the highest AFOQT composite scores are used across any and all previous AFOQT attempts. n Super-scoring for rated: Previously, individuals could not compete
See LANGUAGE, Page 14
From Page 3 my head against the wall and choked me while I held my daughter in her car seat. I remember my vision fading, the sound of a lamp hitting the ground and being afraid that my newborn would be hurt if I dropped her or fell on her if I lost consciousness.
It still scares me to think about what may have happened that night if it had not been for my German shepherd, Kodiak. There was a lot of snarling and yelling and then suddenly I could breathe. Kodiak bit his arm and brought him to the ground. He threatened to have Kodiak euthanized if I called the police.
Too often people will hear stories of domestic violence and say, “If that was me I would just ....”
I want people to know that’s not helpful. Until you’re in that situation and feel the weight of every potential consequence, you can’t begin to imagine what you would do. I recognize my privilege played a key part in my ability to eventually escape my abuser. I am educated, I am financially independent and I have a strong support network, but it still took nearly four years.
What does that say for women who are financially or emotionally dependent on their abusers?
At AFCEC, no one had a clue what my home life was like when I left the office each day. I didn’t want them to know because work was my escape. In the office, I had a support network that kept me going. Every day I walked through the doors of Building 1 and the AFCEC team built me up, restored my self-confidence and self-worth, and granted me opportunities to grow as a consultant and a professional in my career field.
In 2014, he swore off drinking after he lost control at a wedding and shoved me. He said he didn’t like the way people looked at him like he was a bad guy. I told him if he continued drinking it would be a matter of time before something bad happened and he wasn’t going to get off easy a third time. I was only half right.
Second DUI, another second chance
In 2015, he got another DUI and I really thought he would be charged. I was banking on it when, instead of immediately posting his bail, I went to file for emergency custody. But that’s not what happened. Instead, his veteran status granted him admission to Veteran Treatment Court. Another opportunity to avoid charges if he completed the program.
While the VTC is a valuable hybrid drug and mental health court program that serves veterans struggling with addiction, serious mental illness and other disorders, in my case it enabled my abuser to continue abusing me while he navigated program requirements in pursuit of another clean slate.
Because I’d broken his trust by trying to leave, his promise to move to Michigan after graduation was no longer on the table. He also retained an attorney and had papers drawn up to keep me in the state. Instead of serving me, he said that if I left the state with our daughter I’d be hauled back to Texas for legal proceedings. Since he was a veteran who technically didn’t have a record and was in good standing with the VTC, it was unlikely a court would elect to grant anything other than shared custody.
I went to three different lawyers to confirm that scenario. I couldn’t leave our young daughter alone in his custody, it wasn’t safe. I begged him to give me another chance and told him I wouldn’t betray him again.
In 2016, his erratic behavior worsened and he began losing touch with reality. He would stay up for days without sleep and was suspicious of everything I said and did.
One day in desperation, I called the VTC from my car in tears and begged them not to tell my husband I called. I needed them to know he wasn’t in the right state of mind and I didn’t feel safe. I wanted them to assess him. They told me he was meeting all program requirements and they couldn’t do anything for me and to call the police. The police said they couldn’t do anything because a crime hadn’t been committed and referred me to a women’s shelter.
I wiped away my tears, freshened my makeup and went back to work.
Probation violations
A few weeks later after failing a random drug test, he wanted me to go to the hearing to voice my support in front of the judge and say I thought the mouthwash he was using caused a false positive. If I didn’t support him, he said he’d never reconsider moving to Michigan.
At the hearing I stayed silent when the judge confronted him. He got lucky though and wasn’t kicked out of the program. He didn’t consider
See ABUSE, Page 12
From Page 3 same level of performance in a current year, and with more experience, ended up with less overall points. The new score removes this outcome and allows sustained performance and experience to be valued.
The central tenet of the new Promotion Recommendation Score is to award enlisted performance report points based on the documented performance earned by each Airman in that year. The higher the earned performance value, the more points an Airman receives. All Airmen earning the same rating receive the same point value in that year regardless of how many years they’ve been promotion eligible.
Also under the new system, experience points are awarded for a maximum of two previous EPRs in the current grade, based on the ratings earned in those particular years. All Airmen having the same level of performance and same years of eligibility receive the same experience points. Just like the point structure for current year performance, experience points increase with increased levels of performance.
Similar to the current system, the PRS continues to utilize a maximum of three EPRs in the current grade and point values are constructed to favor an Airman’s most recent performance. Unlike the current system, scores do not change the value of an earned rating based on the number of times an Airman has been eligible. It awards full point values for each rating in any given year. This ensures Airmen with the same level of performance in any particular year earn the same point and experience values.
Under the new Promotion Recommendation Score:
1. First-time eligible, received a Must Promote in 2021 a PRS will be 220 2. Second-time eligible, received a Must Promote in 2021 and a P in 2020 a PRS will be 220+10 = 230 3. Third-time eligible, received a Must Promote in 2021, a P in 2020 and a P in 2019 a PRS will be 220+10+5 = 235
Impact of experience points under new Promotion Recommendation Score:
1.Second-time eligible, received a Promote Now in 2021 and a P in 2020 a PRS will be 250+10=260 2. First-time eligible, also received a Promote Now in 2021 but has less experience a PRS will be 250+0=250
These changes will impact senior airmen and staff sergeants who are promotion eligible beginning with the 22E6 promotion cycle. Additionally, the “Not Ready Now” recommendation will no longer receive promotion points and the “Do Not Promote” recommendation will be eliminated under PRS. Commanders retain existing administrative actions to designate an Airman as ineligible for promotion should conduct or poor performance dictate.
by Auburn N. Braithwaite
U.S. Transportation Command Public Affairs
SCOTT AIR FORCE BASE, Ill.— U.S. Air Force Gen. Jacqueline D. Van Ovost took command of U.S. Transportation Command (USTRANSCOM) in a ceremony here today, becoming the first female officer to lead the global combatant command.
Van Ovost succeeds Gen. Stephen R. Lyons, the first Army officer to lead USTRANSCOM. Lyons retired today after 38 years of military service.
U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III presided over the ceremony. He said Lyons is a tough act to follow, but Van Ovost is exactly the right person for the job, describing her as a legend of a leader.
“She’s led at nearly every level of command, most recently at the helm of Air Mobility Command, where she played a key role by supplying planes and personnel for the Afghan airlift,” Austin said. “At the height of the NEO [Noncombatant Evacuation Operation], an aircraft was taking off from Kabul airport every 45 minutes. This kind of real-world combat achievement underscores something crucial. General Van Ovost, in the 21st century, careers like yours are a fighting imperative.”
In addition to recent operations in Afghanistan, Austin highlighted the strategic advantages USTRANSCOM provides to the nation and its ability to align mobility resources to the highest strategic priorities of the Department of Defense (DOD).
He said that on any given day, 115 railcars are moving DOD equipment, 33 ships are getting underway, 1,500 trucks are delivering cargo and every two minutes planes are hauling supplies, refueling aircraft, and moving patients.
Austin said those are just ordinary operations, but also that the past year for USTRANSCOM was anything but ordinary.
USTRANSCOM led the nation through the global pandemic with mitigation efforts, delivery of supplies and vaccines, and by sponsoring critical particle airflow and testing studies onboard commercial aircraft, which established industry-wide safety standards for passengers. Lyons was also directed to activate the Civil Reserve Air Fleet (CRAF) for just the third time and used CRAF for the first time to transport civilians.
“You had to keep the American military moving during a historic pandemic; and you delivered. You had to execute a complex retrograde in Somalia; and you delivered. You had to conduct the largest noncombatant evacuation airlift in American history in Afghanistan; and you delivered,” he said. “You conducted the largest NEO airlift in American history – in just 17 days.”
Austin said USTRANSCOM soared over the normal high expectations for the command under Lyons’ leadership and forged “a global transportation network that is stronger and faster than ever, and even more secure, hardened, and sustainable.”
As commander, Lyons focused on five priorities to champion transportation and logistical issues: Sealift recapitalization, air refueling capacity, cyber resiliency, digital modernization and the program responsible for moving DOD personnel, their families and their personal property.
Lyons also advocated for partnerships with industry to develop an innovative space transportation prototype to deliver cargo to any place on the globe within an hour.
“When people ask me ‘How does TRANSCOM do it? What is the secret to success?’ I tell them the truth. We are blessed with incredible people from around the globe,” Lyons said. “To the men and women of TRANSCOM, it has been my greatest honor to serve as your 13th commander.”
Lyons said he knows the command will welcome Van Ovost with open arms and that she is eminently qualified to lead an enterprise of more than 116 thousand logistics and transportation professionals to meet a rapidly changing global security environment.
Photo by Lisa Ferdinando Photo by Lisa Ferdinando
