Deployable civilians provide expertise

  • Published
  • By Capt. Amie Brockway
  • Air Combat Command Public Affairs
When their units are called to deploy, they line up for their smallpox and anthrax shots, they pack camouflage uniforms and dog tags, they get weapons training, and brush up on their self-aid and buddy-care skills. But these warriors are not airmen -- at least not in the traditional sense.

They are Air Force Engineering and Technical Services civilians who work shoulder-to-shoulder with the active-duty force, providing continuity and years of expertise to aircraft maintenance and communication units Air Force-wide.

Though they are noncombatants, the civilians deploy worldwide with their units supporting the Air and Space Expeditionary Force. Being willing to deploy is part of their job description and a condition of their employment.

Of the 540 AFETS civilians throughout the Air Force, 325 are assigned to Air Combat Command. More than 90 percent have served in the military before transitioning to a similar field as a civilian. They bring with them an average of 15 years of technical expertise, said Dr. Frank Malone, chief of the Combat Air Forces Engineering and Technical Services division.

“We don’t hire people right out of high school or college. We want people who bring technical expertise to the table,” Malone said. “When you put three or four (of our civilians) together, you probably have about 50 or 60 years worth of experience. They are the go-to guys when you have the most critical technical problems.”

The AFETS program began in 1966, but limited guidance and logistical constraints made deploying its civilians difficult until 1990, he said.

Deploying civilians became easier when they began to be viewed as an integral part of the total force concept, said Bob Harmon, acting chief of the division’s communications team.

“Becoming a part of the deployment footprint allowed the military to not only (use these civilians) more easily, but we also began to train for the deployment phase, as well for the technical requirements,” Harmon said. “Now we have better guidance in place. (The civilians) are part of any Phase-I inspection. So now when we deploy our civilians, we have line numbers associated with them, just like the active-duty side.”

Many prior-service civilians see few differences between their former lives in the military and their current lives. They said they still enjoy the training and camaraderie of the military but have exchanged titles like “airman” and “sergeant” for “Mr.” and “Ms.”

“When I deployed to the Middle East after Desert Storm, I was part of an air control squadron. It was almost like being back in the military,” said Rich Miller, an ACC command system integrator who spent 12 years in the Air Force. “I found a lot of acceptance in my unit from my active-duty counterparts because they felt I was a very important part of the team effort.”

As a civilian technician, Miller said much of the acceptance was fostered before the unit deployed, while he was training military technicians for worldwide contingencies.

“You stand in line with them at the immunization line, put your gas mask on during exercises and deploy to the field when the unit is practicing local communication exercises. When you are tasked to deploy, you process the readiness line, get on an airplane and land in a foreign country ready to accomplish the mission,” he said.

But civilians in the field today do more than that, Miller said.

“They not only train and deploy with their home units, but they are constantly (on temporary duty), assisting other … units with training and technical support,” he said.

In the past decade, the number of civilian deployments has increased significantly. They have filled 150 deployment requirements since Sept. 11, 2001, Malone said.

“As the blue-suit environment geared up, we got busier. We mirror the (operations tempo) of the active-duty force,” he said. “The more the Air Force draws down, the more AFETS (civilians) are called upon. We used to provide the technical assistance by phone. Now they want us on site at the deployed location.”

The program has gained greater acceptance by commanders in the past 12 years. AFETS civilians throughout the Air Force have established credibility through their expertise and have shown their value at both their home units and their deployed locations, he said.

“AFETS (civilians) are … force (multipliers),” Harmon said. “Units know when they deploy that there is at least one person going with them who knows it all. (These civilians) provide the continuity and a broad-based aircraft or communications systems knowledge. The active-duty force does their job very well, but the (civilians) help bring it all together.”

Like the active-duty force, civilians leave behind families during their deployments. As part of the Air Force family, the civilians’ families have access to family-support programs and services at their bases, like families of active-duty airmen. Their spouses also look after each other through a spouses’ network, Malone said.