RANDOLPH AIR FORCE BASE, Texas –
Leadership is intent on ensuring the Air Force is "capable across the spectrum of warfare" while it strives to balance today's requirements and tomorrow's challenges with a static active-duty manpower pool, the service's top civilian official told Team Randolph members last week.
"We must be as capable in counterinsurgency operations as we are in major conventional ops," Secretary of the Air Force Michael Donley told a standing-room-only audience in the base theater Jan. 7. "The future security environment will likely be fluid and dangerous. We'll face threats from both the low and high ends of the spectrum and hybrid threats that combine elements of both. We're already working to achieve this balance which our future Air Force must reflect in both force structure and missions and in our personnel."
Secretary Donley addressed a wide range of issues, from the Air Force's support of the surge in Afghanistan to Randolph's role in the new remotely piloted aircraft mission, in his presentation to Team Randolph members. His trip to San Antonio Jan. 6-8 also included briefings at Headquarters Air Education and Training Command and Headquarters Air Force Personnel Center, a visit to Randolph's Basic Sensor Operator Course and a tour of Lackland Air Force Base. He presided over Lackland's Basic Military Training graduation on the last day of his visit.
Secretary Donley, who was confirmed as the 22nd secretary of the Air Force in October 2008, said the Air Force is playing a vital role in the surge in Afghanistan, transporting all incoming forces.
"To support the buildup in Afghanistan, where we now have the surge under way, the Air Force has been surging its airlifts and air refueling assets by 40 or 50 percent to support that work, surging the number of (Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance platforms) and medevac and casevac assets as well," he said. "The president has directed that our forces flow at the fastest possible pace."
But as the Air Force addresses today's needs, leadership is also "talking about our strategy for the way forward," Secretary Donley said.
"We're thinking through issues like what percentage of our force will be manned versus unmanned, where our bases will be, what are our roles in space and cyber, what about training and education and what do we need to prepare our Airmen for the requirements, the challenges they will face in the future," he said.
Secretary Donley said Randolph plays a major role in managing Air Force's most important resource - people.
"You manage those human resources here from the beginning of the process in (Air Force Recruiting Service) to the manpower service that determines how we can best use these personnel to meet the needs of the Air Force," he said. "Because our Airmen are so vital, we must ensure we train them correctly and place them in the right jobs at the right times."
Secretary Donley said management of human resources is also important because the number of active-duty personnel remains at 332,000, but new challenges loom.
"Within that top line we have growing requirements that must be met, so we have to make headspace in cyber Air Force to meet new requirements and new needs going forward," he said.
Some of those needs are personnel to fly and operate the sensors on the Air Force's new RPA; process and disseminate the real-time intelligence gathered by those airplanes and sensors; beef up maintenance manpower; and contribute to the cyber mission.
Secretary Donley commended Randolph for its contributions to pilot instructor and combat systems officer training and to training pilots and sensor operators for the Air Force's remotely piloted aircraft fleet. He said he visited students in Randolph's Basic Sensor Operator Course that morning.
"They recently did a great job of setting up the sensor UAS (Unmanned Aircraft Systems) fundamentals course in less than two months - a great feat," he said.
The secretary also addressed a number of questions from the audience on topics ranging from civilian deployments and whether the Air Force is meeting the Department of Defense's expectations for the RPA mission, the transition from the National Security Personnel System back to the General Schedule and Year of the Air Force Family initiatives.
Secretary Donley said active-duty manpower constraints - and growing active-duty requirements such as the cyber and intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance missions - mean the Air Force should be open to involving civilians in roles traditionally reserved for the military.
Though the active-duty end strength is a "constraining factor," the civilian side of the Air Force's workforce is open to growth, including the possibility of bringing some work performed by contractors in-house, he said.
"The leadership looks for maximum flexibility across our components, all of our elements, from our personnel system, to find the right balance," he said.
Addressing the service's support of Airmen and their families, Secretary Donley said surveys show that the Air Force is "blessed with a very strong personnel support community."
"But we can always find issues that need a little bit more work," he said. "What we're trying to do this year is focus on how do we develop synergy in all of our Airmen and family support work."
Secretary Donley said the Air Force is looking at issues such as families with exceptional needs, schooling for dependents, education for Airmen, providing access to health care and living off base.
"We're just kind of thinking through what the Air Force community really looks like and how we can make it stronger in the future," he said.
During his presentation, Secretary Donley said the concept of family is important to the Air Force.
"Supporting our families, supporting a strong Air Force community, is not just the right thing to do for our Airmen, it is the smart thing to do for our Air Force," he said.