Air Force officials increase deployment times

  • Published
  • By Jon Hanson
  • Air Force Personnel Center Public Affairs
RANDOLPH AIR FORCE BASE, Texas (AFNS) --  Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Norton Schwartz announced a change to the air and space expeditionary force rotational baseline from 120 to 179 days for most active component Airmen.

According to Air Force officials, 71 percent of Airmen are already deploying outside the 120-day baseline. The revised construct will therefore increase predictability for affected Airmen and their families while providing better support to combatant commanders by increasing continuity at deployed locations.

Previously Air Force officials used five tempo bands for the active component: "A" through "E." With the change, Air Force officials will move Tempo Band "A" unit type codes, or UTCs, and associated personnel to Tempo Band "B." Incorporating a 1-to-4 deploy-to-dwell time, the change results in six months of deployed time for Airmen and 24 months at home. The difference between the remaining tempo bands is the deploy-to-dwell time, ranging from 1-to-4 to 1-to-1.

Combat Air Force units transition to the new baseline beginning this month. They previously were in an "enabler" category at a 1-to-3 deploy-to-dwell time. Those units will move to Tempo Band "C," remaining at a 1-to-3 deploy-to-dwell time, but will see an increase from 12 to 18 months at home station between deployments.

Expeditionary combat support Airmen will begin their transition to the new baseline in December 2010 with full implementation expected by October 2012.

"Ultimately, this is good for the Air Force mission, our Airmen and their families," said Col. James Horton, director of AEF and personnel operations at the Air Force Personnel Center. "While the deployment time is longer, it also means the downtime is longer.

"This change is meant to reflect a more realistic and consistent deployment outlook," he said. "By better managing our wartime operations tempo means we can provide our Airmen and their families the greatest level of stability and predictability."

According to the announcement, the change will be in effect until the conclusion of Operation Enduring Freedom.

Editor's Note: This story was updated Sept. 15, 2010.