RANDOLPH AIR FORCE BASE, Texas –
Air Education and Training Command hosted a worldwide command and control conference this week in San Antonio to discuss career field issues during a time of limited manpower and resources.
Chief Master Sgt. Jose Magallanes, Headquarters, U.S. Air Force's Air Space and Information Operations office command post career field manager, said the 2009
Worldwide Command Post Conference at the downtown Hyatt Regency hosted around 500 attendees, mostly specialists in the field and superintendents from major Air Force commands.
He said the attendees were there to conduct serious business.
"One purpose of the conference was to define solutions to manpower and resource shortages and issues facing the Air Force's command and control field and to find a way ahead," the chief added.
Master Sgt. Efrem Grice, AETC command and control non-commissioned officer in charge of policy and procedures, said the attendance at the conference has more than doubled since the inaugural conference in 2007. He added with the current budget and manpower drawdown, command post career field managers said rather than have a few small conferences, they'd have one worldwide conference to save funds.
The sergeant said attendees touched on many command and control subjects pertaining to different command levels.
"In the first two days, Air Force-wide subjects were discussed," he explained. "Then, each major command broke out and discussed its own issues in the last two days of the conference."
Sergeant Grice said representatives from various companies who manufacture command and control communication consoles and emergency management and alert systems were there to show their systems and how they best meet Air Force needs.
"It really gave a big picture to OICs and wing superintendents about career field issues and how they're brought up to higher headquarters," he stressed.