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Personnel Center team talks nuclear issues

  • Published
  • By Carla Pampe
  • Air Force Global Strike Command Public Affairs
BARKSDALE AIR FORCE BASE, La. --  Hundreds of members of Air Force Global Strike Command heard the latest on nuclear career issues directly from the Air Force Personnel Center Commander here Nov. 30.

Maj. Gen. A.J. Stewart, AFPC commander, and the Air Force's director of assignments, Col. David Slade, dove into issues specific to nuclear-related career fields, including force development, assignments, education and training.

"AFPC is here to take care of you," General Stewart told the Airmen gathered at Hoban Hall.

"Strengthening the nuclear enterprise takes the entire team," said Colonel Slade. Then he got into specifics.

"In the past, we didn't have a way to account for nuclear billets," said Colonel Slade. "Now, we have built a 'key nuclear billet' listing, about 2,200 billets, managed by [the air staff], and updated personnel data systems to capture key nuclear billets."

Key nuclear billets and associated tracking systems allow AFPC to ensure that key jobs are filled with qualified personnel, the colonel said.

He also discussed nuclear Special Experience Identifiers, which can help track experience throughout an Air Force career.

"People are often afraid of an SEI, because they think they might get stuck in a particular job or location, he said. "But, truthfully, assignments are not based on Special Experience Identifiers." He added that SEIs can benefit both the Air Force and the individual Airman, because Special Experience Identifiers allow the personnel system to track experience as people gain it and accumulate it throughout their careers.

There are challenges to managing nuclear careers and nuclear experience, the colonel said, including fewer Airmen in the Air Force than in previous eras, other priorities that compete for Air Force resources, and the need to fill nuclear billets on headquarters staffs with field grade officers and senior non-commissioned officers, thus taking them out of the field units.

"These factors have led AFPC to look at policy and practice" to ensure the right people are in the right jobs, the colonel said.

During the briefing, the colonel discussed ways in which the nuclear enterprise has grown over the last two years. Those included the stand-up of Air Force Global Strike Command, the stand-up of a second B-52 squadron at Minot Air Force Base, N.D., and the addition of nuclear directorates at the Air Staff and most major commands. In addition, the Air Force Nuclear Weapons Center has consolidated nuclear sustainment responsibilties, and the Air Force Inspection Agency has created dedicated nuclear inspection teams, he said.