An official website of the United States government
Here's how you know
A .mil website belongs to an official U.S. Department of Defense organization in the United States.
A lock (lock ) or https:// means you’ve safely connected to the .mil website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.

Chief Roy: we must pay attention to nuclear careers

  • Published
  • By Crystal Jordan
  • Air Force Global Strike Command Public Affairs
The nuclear weapons career field was recently the focus of the first-ever Air Force enlisted development team, a newly-implemented program designed to help guide the careers of senior enlisted Airmen across the Air Force.

Air Force Global Strike Command senior enlisted Airmen will benefit from the program, which focuses on careers of enlisted members by Air Force Specialty Code the same way that traditional development teams have focused on officer and civilian career development, training and education.

During the event March 31, Chief Master Sergeant of the Air Force James A. Roy said vectoring senior non-commissioned officers from the 2W2 nuclear weapons career field is "critical to helping the Air Force accomplish its top priority of strengthening the nuclear enterprise."

"We felt it was appropriate to start with the 2W2s to handle the unique challenges associated with the nuclear enterprise," Chief Roy said.

"The purpose of deliberate development is to grow our senior NCOs and grow the next generation of senior enlisted leaders to meet the highly technical and very complex leadership challenges the Department of Defense and the United States Air Force face in the future," Chief Roy said.

"This is important to a command like this one," said Chief Master Sgt. Paul Grady, chief enlisted manager for Air Force Global Strike Command's manpower and personnel directorate. "It is imperative that we have the right Airmen in the positions when entrusting them with the most powerful weapons in our Nation's arsenal."

Chief Grady said experience and range of perspectives are critical in senior noncommissioned officers and believes "the enlisted development team will help to develop these in our Airmen, building an elite, highly-disciplined team for our command."

The enlisted development team program evaluates targeted ranks within select Air Force specialty codes and will aid in assigning senior non-commissioned officers who have the right training, education and experience to fill critical positions within their career fields.

The initiative originated with the Air Force's Enlisted Force Development Panel and will enable the enlisted force to move forward in deliberately developing senior enlisted leaders.

As Chief Roy completed his remarks to the nuclear weapons enlisted development team panel, he reiterated his overarching goal for it and how the Air Force develops the enlisted force for the future.

"The emphasis is on deliberate development as a whole," he said. "We need to ensure that our enlisted Airmen are developed deliberately for future DOD and Air Force needs."

Information from this article adapted from Tech. Sgt. Steve Grever's April 1 story "Air Force debuts pilot enlisted developmental team": http://www.af.mil/news/story.asp?id=123249682.