Air Force’s top leaders visit Southwest Asia

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. Bryan Bouchard
  • 379th Air Expeditionary Wing Public Affairs
The Air Force’s top civilian, officer and enlisted leaders visited more than 5,000 Airmen at this forward-deployed location Nov. 4 as they kicked off their swing through Southwest Asia.

Sporting the Air Force’s new proposed utility uniform, Secretary of the Air Force Dr. James G. Roche, Chief of Staff Gen. John P. Jumper, and Chief Master Sgt. of the Air Force Gerald R. Murray, visited operations and support Airmen deployed here.

“We want to say thank you to each and every one of you for what you do here every day,” said Secretary Roche to the crowd of nearly 2,500 Airmen.

During a troop call, the three addressed issues such as force shaping, operations tempo, physical fitness and the future of the Air Force.

The chief of staff started out by explaining the switch to 120-day air and space expeditionary force rotations.

“The 120-day deployments make more sense,” General Jumper said. “Eighty-five percent of our deployed members are on 120-day rotations.”

He added that there are currently more than 34,000 Airmen deployed worldwide.

Although the new deployments lengthen people’s time away from home, they will also lengthen the amount of time between deployments for Airmen, so they won’t deploy as often, he said.

General Jumper explained how the number of Airmen eligible to deploy has increased dramatically in the last 20 years.

“In 1984, we had 685,000 Airmen and 80,000 eligible to deploy,” he said. “Today, we have 359,000 Airmen, and 270,000 are eligible to deploy.”

That represents an increase from 12 percent to 75 percent of the force eligible to deploy.

Referencing specific organizations made up from dozens of units across the total force, the general emphasized how the ingenuity and adaptability of Airmen allow the AEF process to continue succeeding.

“Airmen can come together from anywhere in the world and get the job done,” he said. Despite the high operations tempo, the general said the Air Force still maintains high recruiting and retention rates.

High retention rates are one of the reasons the Air Force implemented force shaping, Secretary Roche said, adding that many Airmen are concerned that the Air Force is simply “drawing down” its numbers through the program.

“We’re not cutting the Air Force, we’re trying to get back (to) where we need to be,” he said.

Dr. Roche added that some of the overage came from an unexpected number of people staying in the Air Force.

“General Jumper always says that people stay in the Air Force because they love being part of something greater than themselves,” Secretary Roche said.

The end result of force shaping is to not only get the overall Air Force numbers where they need to be, but to ensure critical career fields have the manning to perform their duties, General Jumper said.

“There are certain career fields that are in high demand,” Secretary Roche said. Among those career fields are special operators and security forces.

The bottom line of the force shaping, the general said, is to get the Air Force to where it needs to be to support the 10 AEFs.

Besides force shaping, General Jumper referred to force development as another way the Air Force may be able to lessen the effects of the operations tempo on its Airmen.

“One of the ways the Air Force will develop its Airmen is through education and technologies,” the general said. “A whole lot is happening in the way we do business.”

General Jumper referred to the F/A-22 Raptor, MV-22 Osprey and the Joint Strike Fighter as representations of the future of the Air Force. These airframes, along with other initiatives, will allow the Air Force to lessen the burden on its Airmen by shifting to newer, more capable technologies.

After fielding several questions from the audience, the three stepped off stage and mingled with the Airmen.

“I think it’s great that the secretary, the general and the chief came here to visit,” said Staff Sgt. Armida Johnson, a night shift worker at the command post who woke up early to make sure she did not miss the troop call. “It’s nice to know that people appreciate what we do.”