Enlisted aide upgraded to special duty

  • Published
  • By Tech. Sgt. Chris Haug
  • Pacific Air Forces Public Affairs
HICKAM AIR FORCE BASE, Hawaii (AFPN) --  They have been part of the Air Force enlisted force since its beginning, but they have never had a formalized position description or job qualification standard -- until now.

The enlisted aide program, now an official Air Force special duty, was authorized the new Air Force Specialty Code of 8A200 last October. Before the AFSC assignment, enlisted aides worked under a generic code of 9G000, which did not authorize specialty training.

“We’ve made great strides over the past 18 months to institutionalize our training program,” said Senior Master Sgt. Gary Murdock, the Air Force enlisted aide manager at the Pentagon. “With the support of senior leadership, we now have a career path for those who chose to listen to their ‘service hearts.’”

A senior enlisted aide at Pacific Air Forces took the lead in organizing the career field’s first training conference held here May 12 to 16.

Master Sgt. Lynette Gotay-Cui, the senior enlisted aide to PACAF Commander Gen. Bill Begert, ran the first major command enlisted aide training workshop, held in conjunction with the PACAF Commander’s Conference. Eight aides from across the command received a detailed explanation of the new training program, shared experiences and refined their training in a variety of areas.

The conference is the first of what Murdock expects to be many training opportunities for the approximately 90 Air Force enlisted aides serving around the world.

Enlisted aide duty is a voluntary special duty open to all career airmen, Murdock explained. Qualified enlisted members who pass an extensive screening process are assigned to specific general officers, relieving them of tasks and details that could affect the officers’ primary duties if they had to perform them.

Murdock said the duties of an enlisted aide generally vary since they are tailored to the needs of each general officer. However, most enlisted aides perform such tasks as: meal preparation, to include menu planning and shopping; housekeeping, to include daily routine tasks; maintaining the general officer’s uniforms; outside chores, such as lawn care and gardening; and arranging official social events.

Senior leaders recently placed a priority on standardizing the training and career opportunities for enlisted aides to provide stability to the program, said Brig. Gen. Richard Hassan, director of the Air Force senior leader management office at the Pentagon.

“Improving the training and standards of the enlisted aide program is a win-win situation for both the enlisted member who wants to make it a career and the senior leaders who use their services,” Hassan said.

Hassan, who was a guest speaker at the PACAF conference, said in the past, enlisted aides were often sent to civilian training because the program was not previously a special-duty assignment and therefore did not have a formal training program available for them.

With the establishment of the 8A200 career-field path, the general said there is now formal standardized training for each development level. (Courtesy of PACAF News Service)