Commander sees AEF working from deployed perspective

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. Chyenne A. Griffin
  • U.S. Central Command Air Forces Forward Public Affairs
SOUTHWEST ASIA (AFPN) --  The Air and Space Expeditionary Force Center commander recently visited his largest customer in theater -- U.S. Central Command Air Forces.

Brig. Gen. Stephen L. Hoog said there was no better place to see that the AEF is working as advertised than in the Southwest Asia and Central Asia.

“I appreciate and respect the fact that, other than first-line supervisors and commanders, the AEF Center has one of the greatest amounts of influence in every Airman’s life,” the general said. “So we’re working toward maintaining our warfighting capability while bringing as much predictability to our Airmen so they can plan their lives.”

The center implements the AEF force concept that plans and delivers versatile air and space power to the right place, at the right time, to support mission needs.

The AEF process helps create a culture that embraces the unique characteristics of air and space power -- range, speed, flexibility and precision, General Hoog said. As a total force organization, a typical AEF consists of a full spectrum of air and space capabilities and is balanced, flexible and sustainable. It is also tailored to meet combatant commander requirements. It is responsive, capable of deploying to conduct broad range operations with minimum warning time.

Currently, the majority of the force is on steady and predictable four-month deployments, with less than 22 percent serving extended deployments of about six months. This includes overtasked security forces, transporters, civil engineers and low density/high demand aircraft platforms. Very few others are on one-year permanent-party tours which are normally reserved for key leadership positions.

“There is no such thing as a short-notice tasking while you’re in your AEF window to deploy,” General Hoog said. “Bags should be packed, and the warfighter should be ready and prepared to support combat operations.”

More than half of the Airmen in today’s Air Force know of no other way, the general said. In return for Airmen’s continued volunteer service to their nation, officials continue to enhance quality of life and make continuous improvements to Air Force processes -- including the dependability of deployment.

One of these improvements is the single ticket program that provides visibility of every Airman straight into their deployed location and back to home station.

“When ‘Johnny (and) Jane’ leave their base, we want them to have predictable travel all the way to their final destination -- no waiting or guessing games,” General Hoog said.

The military is using chartered commercial flights to provide more predictability to Airmen and their families, and drastically cut down on travel time to deployed locations. The general said seeing the reality of this new process is one of the things he came here to see -- spending time talking to those involved in the execution of travel and the Airmen actually using it.

“It just makes more sense for the customer -- our Airmen -- and at the end of the day it’s better for the Air Force overall,” he said. “We’ve been practicing the aggregated flight processes getting folks into theater, and now we’re trying it to get them home. Of course there will be growing pains, but lessons learned each time make the next cycle better than the last.”

General Hoog said processes are only as good as the people who execute them, so he encourages each individual to get involved in the deployment process, and every installation deployment officer, travel management office and personnel readiness unit to ensure they are up to date on current procedures.

“If you can’t get excited about making a difference in an Airman’s life, what’s worth getting excited about?” General Hoog said. “This culture change is being embraced from the top down, and it’s getting better and better for those who matter most -- our warfighters in the field.”

According to AEF statistics, most Airmen are deploying less frequently than the old 90-day deployment cycles. And, those on extended deployment generally still know how long they will be deployed as soon as they are notified of their deployment -- maintaining a sense of predictability, even for those in high-demand career fields.