RANDOLPH AIR FORCE BASE, Texas –
A 24-month Air and Expeditionary Force Schedule will replace the AEF deployment cycle beginning Oct. 1, a move officials say will better support commanders' needs, allow Airmen to better plan their professional and personal lives and align Airmen with Department of Defense Global Force Management Cycles for Fiscal 2010 and 2011.
"The approved tempo band construct will start with the initial AEF Schedule AS 10-11 on Oct. 1," said Billy Hampton, Chief Deployment Management Flight installation deployment officer. "The change complements the planning process and provides a more accurate deployment forecast for Airmen."
Airmen are assigned to one of five tempo bands based on their career fields. Each band is then broken into blocks that represent deployment and dwelling (or preparation) periods.
Airmen's unit type codes, or career fields, dictate the band they are assigned to, or, more specifically, the frequency of their deployments. Each band uses a deployment-to-dwell ratio that provides a more reliable structure to indicate what time periods Airmen will be home or deployed.
For example, Airmen in the intelligence career field will occupy a 1:1 deployment/dwell ratio, meaning they deploy for six months and dwell for six months, whereas Airmen in the critical-care medical career field will occupy a 1:3 ratio, meaning they will deploy for six months and dwell for 18 months.
For more information on what band and block Airmen are aligned in, contact your unit deployment manager.
The bands are as follows:
Band A/B (1:4)
Financial management (enlisted, O-1 to O-3)
Legal
Chaplain (except Catholic, Islamic and Orthodox)
Band C (1:3)
Logistics and plans
Materiel management
Public affairs (enlisted)
Medical (critical care and surgical)
Weather (Air Force support)
Chaplain (Catholic and Orthodox)
Band D (1:2)
PA (officers)
Office of Special Investigation (except counter-intelligence operations)
FM (O-4 and up)
Logistics readiness officers
Aerial port
Traffic management
Vehicle operations
Medical (behavioral health)
Vehicle management
Civil engineering (Prime BEEF and explosive ordnance disposal)
Band E (1:1)
Chaplain (Islamic)
Intelligence
Contracting
OSI (CI ops)
Security forces
(Note: This chart depicts only those functional areas that have a deputy chief of staff-approved plan for tempo band placement. Officials expect all functional areas to be placed in tempo bands soon.)