air force first base assignment

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Choosing Your First Officer Base/Assignment

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FY2020 Line Officer Board Schedule

Air Force Decorations Part 1 of 2

I received the following comment on a post and I thought it would be beneficial for all to hear.

Being that you have been active duty for a while, what things do you look for when deciding what your base choices would be?  For example, my wife and I thought that proximity to family, quality, etc would be important.

This is a really tough question to answer because it really depends on what your priorities are, what career field you are in (or going in to), and what you want to do with your career.  I will start by talking through some of the things I thought about over the years.  I will separate this by enlisted vs. officer because the process or approach taken should be treated very differently for each.

My Enlisted Base Experience

When you first enlist you write down eight base choices available for your career field, but that is basically the extent of your personal influence on the situation.  Once you submit your eight choices you are at the mercy of the available quotas outlined by AFPC.  The basic criteria of these choices are PCS timeline, quotas (slots available) and rank.  I submitted my eight choices for my first base but I ended up getting a base that wasn’t on my list.  If you are enlisted there are ways you can get a pretty good idea of the manning at each of the bases you are interested in and that can help you with getting the assignment you want.  I didn’t figure this out until several years into my career.

Since my first base chose me (instead of the other way around), I didn’t really think about where I wanted to go.  Once I got there, I began to realize there are a few factors which directly relate to your quality of life at that base.  Here are a few I learned from my earlier assignments.

• Mission – Do some research on the missions available in your career field, and the overall morale associated with those missions.  For example, in the Security Forces world there is a general dislike of the “nuke” or ICBM world due to the strict security requirements associated with the mission.  Strict requirements means more challenges, and more challenges means less resources and manpower.  Try to tap into the “general” missions first for example ICBM, fighter, bomber, research, space, etc.  That will help you narrow down the bases.
• Overseas vs. stateside – Seriously, you want to go overseas.  If you are younger you may desire to be closer to family.  Once you join the military it becomes necessary to start your own life though, and the sooner you do the better off you will be.  Everyone should do overseas tours early because it opens your eyes to the literal world around you, your parents are still young, and your kids or marriage is young (if you have them).  Once you have more roots and a family you can do your time stateside and take care of your parents.
• City size  – This matters to a lot of people, but the trick is that some people don’t know what they prefer until they leave what they had.  I lived in a very small area close to a medium sized city and moved to a base with a medium sized city, so my first transition was easy.  Later in my career I moved to a fairly large city and realized I preferred that instead.  Be cognizant of this but I wouldn’t use it as a determining factor.
• Family (parents and siblings)  – Despite what I said about cutting ties, I absolutely love my family.  Being halfway across the US is tough, but I also had to accept I was in the military.  You will have to decide this one for yourself.  Think about factors such as driving time, airline ticket expenses, etc.  If you are serious about a base actually calculate the airline cost because some bases may seem fairly close but be small enough that they require a regional flight on both ends which racks up the price.
• Church  – This can be very important to some people.  It can be very frustrating to be stuck at a base that doesn’t have a church which meets your religious or spiritual needs.  If it is important enough to you, you will want to do the research.
• Local Hobbies  – What do you like to do, and what does your future base have to offer?  If you know a location is similar you may be in good shape, but if your hobbies are drastically different from a base you may struggle.  A lot of this is about attitude though.  Having a positive attitude and being open to trying new things can completely change your experience.

Toward the later part of my career I married my beautiful wife and had a few kids, so my priorities changed.  By this time I knew what I wanted for city size, I knew how close I wanted to live by my parents and I was fairly familiar with the missions across the Air Force.  Here are a few other factors which began to play a role in my PCS decisions.

• Crime, neighborhoods, parks – I wanted my family to have a healthy and safe environment around my house, so this began to play a role.  Look up the crime rates and try to get a feel for the different cities you are looking at.
• Commute  – What is the typical commute to and from work, and where do most people live?  For example at one base I loved my 45 minute commute because it was a quiet and peaceful drive.  At my next base I absolutely hated my 25 minute commute because it was gridlock every day.  This one will likely vary throughout your career.
• Medical support  – We decided to have our baby off base so the quality of local hospitals played a role in where we wanted to live.  This is more of a decision for finding a part of town you want to live in, not finding a city you want to PCS to (since most cities have good off-base medical).
• Military culture  – Some cities by bases love the military population for various reasons.  Some cities hate the military population because of the trouble it can bring.  Additionally, the culture of the city itself can be different based on the makeup of the population.  If the city has the only university in that region of your state, the city culture may be college with a military population present.  If a city has multiple bases in city limits, the entire city could feel like a military base.  Keep in mind bases from other branches can have a different effect on the culture of the city.
• Schools  – Think about how old your kids are and what grades they will be in for your assignment, and try to gauge the quality of the skills based on what you want for your kids.

Other Remarks

I am slightly hesitant with doing this post because I don’t think it is right to nitpick your assignment or dread an assignment because it wasn’t what you were expected (or didn’t provide what you thought was important to you.)  Here are some tips which I have employed over the years to have the best assignments.  I can wholeheartedly say every assignment I have had was better than all previous.

• Know the assignment process.  You may think it is all to chance but you should know how  it is up to chance, and what part of the process is under your control (it is more than you think.)  Know the regulations, and make sure you understand the timelines and AFPC processes.  Knowledge really is power with assignments.  Keep in mind there is a normal career field process and a separate process called “Special Duties.”  Special duties are different jobs which you can do outside of your career field.  This can open up a few more options for people with limited assignment options.
• Once you know the process, do the research and make your decision.  You should be making an informed decision based on what is important to you.  Once you submit your choices just let the chips fall.  The Air Force is going to do what it is going to do, and fighting it will only make your life more difficult.
• Embrace your next assignment.  Get into what is fun to locally do there, don’t gripe about not being able to do what you used to do.   Every base will have things you like and things you don’t like.   Learn to accept the base for what it is, and focus on the things about the base you do like.  Most of all, enjoy your time there.
• Again, always have a positive attitude.  If your hobby isn’t available there, find a new one.  If there are literally no hobbies, go back to school.  You can always grow and develop, and each base can define your life in a positive way.

Officer Assignments

• Although the above process and priorities aren’t much different for an officer’s first assignment, the process changes more and more as you progress through your career.  In short, your career progression plays a larger role in where you go as you progress.  An officer is expected to have a certain degree of experience within his or her career field.  If you have done a job already, it would be bad to do the same job at a different base.  On the flip side, you don’t want to be a floater with no depth of experience.  I wouldn’t worry about this at first but just know that things change as you progress through your officer career.
• Instead of the enlisted process of ‘submit your preferences and see what happens,’ each officer has a career counselor (I can’t remember the correct name).  When you are hot for an assignment you submit an in-depth assignment preference profile and your counselor will contact to personally work your assignment.  The assignment preference profile is called Airman Development Plan (ADP).  You are of course limited by available openings, but you have to know the general gist of how you want the next chapter of your career to fit into your total career. This isn’t as important for your second assignment, but becomes extremely important as you progress.
• This probably goes without saying, but the higher your rank, the less say you have on where can you go (lots of Lt slots but very few General slots).  Additionally, saying no to assignments can close doors in your career that can never be re-opened.  If you say no to an assignment you could be saying no to O-6 even though it is years down the road.  DON’T WORRY ABOUT THIS until you are well into your career and have an idea what you want to do with your life.  I tell you this to point out that you have to begin to think about other factors as an officer.  Regardless of what you do, stay true to your own personal values.  Don’t sacrifice your family for an assignment which may help your career.  Make every assignment decision with your family and not on your own.

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airforceotsguy

Air Force Decorations Part 2 of 2

FY2021 Line Officer Board Schedule

Add Comment →

Zach Roberts

Thank you very much. This is very helpful. I hope one day to meet you in person and thank you for all the work you've done to help us all.

Zach, I hope to meet you one day as well. Meeting anyone in person who I have helped through this blog would mean more to me than you know.

Hi! I looked through your blog (very helpful and well written), and couldn't find any advice on packing. Would you mind talking about what you brought, wish you had brought, and didn't need as someone that is now on the other side? I ship in 2 weeks and would love all of the extra advice!

Here is the post I did on packing:

http://journeytoairforceots.blogspot.com/2015/11/preparing-for-ots.html

Overall I think I pretty much had everything I needed. I had the money to spend so I found myself just buying whatever I thought I would need in advance and I used almost all of it. The only thing I can think of right now that I didn't bring enough of is civilian clothes. Take a look at the post and let me know if you have any questions.

By the way thank you for the feedback, and congrats on your selection!

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Some Airmen Will Be Allowed to Swap Base Assignments Again

The Air Force is working to relaunch a program that would allow service members to swap base assignments with one another, five years after a similar initiative was shut down.

Chief Master Sergeant of the Air Force JoAnne Bass, the service's senior enlisted leader, teased the policy change at the Air and Space Force Association's Air, Space & Cyber Conference in National Harbor, Maryland, this week.

"These changes are the result of Airmen from our Enlisted Assignment Working Group taking a holistic look at this process, identifying areas that needed updates and working with Air Force Personnel Center to make it happen," Bass said in a press release. "I couldn't be more proud of the work done to get these changes into the hands of our Airmen."

Read Next: Air Force Still Unsure of Cause Behind Osprey Mechanical Issue That Grounded Aircraft

The assignment swap program would allow volunteers "to replace members selected for assignment, or the trading of assignments after selection," according to a Wednesday Air Force press release .

It would apply only to ranks of E-8 and below with the same Air Force Specialty Code, skill level, grade or projected grade, and special experience identifier.

The Air Force Personnel Center told Military.com in a statement that additional details are not yet available and are still being worked out.

"We are in the early stages of establishing the assignment swap program CMSAF Bass announced at the ASFA Conference," Toni Whaley, a spokeswoman for AFPC public affairs, said in an emailed statement. "We are working with our partners to build out the process and identify business rules to make the program more inclusive with minimum restrictions."

The service had a similar version of an assignment swap program in the past.

An Air Force press release from 2007 first informed service members they would need to look for fellow qualified airmen in the continental United States that they could switch with. The switch would, ultimately, have to be approved by commanders.

But a decade later, in 2017, the program was shut down, according to a 2017 Facebook post from the Air Force Personnel Center. Officials said the program was being underutilized and favored airmen with larger paychecks.

"It was found that less than five percent of Airmen were taking advantage of this program, and it was ultimately deemed unfair," the 2017 post from the Air Force Personnel Center announcing the change read . "With the burden of expenses for moving locations falling on the Airman, some Airmen of higher rank could afford the move, while some younger Airmen could not."

Bass didn't provide any details at the conference on how the program would differ from previous versions or when it would be rolled out.

"There is no set start date we can share at this time, but we will release information as it becomes available," Whaley said.

The possibility of assignment swaps coming back wasn't the only good news for enlisted airmen at the Air and Space Force Association's conference. On Monday during his opening speech, Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall announced that the service would be reversing course on a set of pay cuts that had been set to take effect next month for airmen working some of the toughest jobs.

Hundreds of airmen, many in some of the most physically demanding and difficult jobs, were scheduled to see cuts ranging from $900 to $5,400 a year to their Special Duty Assignment Pay, a monthly incentive bonus known as SDAP, in fiscal 2023 -- which starts Oct. 1.

-- Thomas Novelly can be reached at [email protected] . Follow him on Twitter @TomNovelly.

Related: Air Force Pay Cuts Canceled

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Air Force Resurrects Assignment Swap Program for Enlisted Ranks

Enlisted airmen will be able to swap assignments under a new program launching next month, offering some service members flexibility on where they're stationed across the country and what roles they're given.

The Air Force Enlisted Swap Assignment Program, which becomes available June 1 for airmen, will allow senior master sergeants and below to discuss and search for roles that may be available to trade.

It's the latest quality-of-life issue the service has tackled as it reworks numerous policies amid a historic recruiting crisis. Earlier this month, the Air Force announced another policy that would give airmen who just joined the military a chance to retrain into another job as a way to keep them from leaving the service.

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"Just like our recent policy change authorizing retraining, this is one of the many initiatives we are rolling out to ensure we are able to retrain the talent we need on the bench," Chief Master Sergeant of the Air Force JoAnne Bass said in a press release. "Building the force of the future requires us to look at our personnel policies and balance them with an integrated approach to ensure we maintain the highest standards of readiness."

The new swap program starting next month was first pitched by Bass, the service's senior enlisted leader, at the Air and Space Force Association's Air, Space and Cyber conference in September.

Details of the program were vague when first pitched last year, and specifics have now been ironed out ahead of the launch next month.

The Air Force Enlisted Swap Assignment Program is available to senior master sergeants and below who can find a match for the same career field with the same Control Air Force Specialty Code; skill level; grade or projected grade; special experience identifier, as required; vector, as required; and security clearance, as required.

Airmen must start the swaps within 90 days from their assignment selection date. They can't have adverse quality force indicators and "must possess the same permanent change-of-station eligibility, such as time on station, tour length and retainability," a press release detailing the June 1 start date said .

The service had a similar version of an assignment swap program in the past.

An Air Force press release from 2007 first informed service members they would need to look for fellow qualified airmen in the continental U.S. whom they could switch with. The switch would, ultimately, have to be approved by commanders.

But a decade later, the program was shut down, according to a 2017 Facebook post from the Air Force Personnel Center . Officials said the program was being underutilized and favored airmen with larger paychecks.

"It was found that less than 5% of airmen were taking advantage of this program, and it was ultimately deemed unfair," the 2017 post from the Air Force Personnel Center announcing the change read. "With the burden of expenses for moving locations falling on the airman, some airmen of higher rank could afford the move, while some younger airmen could not."

To make swapping assignments more financially equitable, the new policy "will not require airmen to pay for their relocations," according to a memo detailing the guidelines .

When the previous program was in place, airmen used blogs and even newspaper ads to market career swaps.

In the press release announcing the new program start date, officials told airmen they "are reminded not to use open online spaces to post assignment information, personal contact and other sensitive confidential information to maintain operational security."

The Air Force is using its internal MyVector discussion forum to post about potential assignment swaps, though the service admitted in its press release that the system has frequent issues.

"The program application on MyVector isn't perfect, but it will evolve throughout the year," Alex Wagner, the assistant secretary of the Air Force for Manpower and Reserve Affairs, said in the press release.

Airmen can apply for swaps through the "My Application link" on MyVector, according to the release.

"We aren't waiting for the perfect system to be built, and I'm glad to see this program come to fruition," Bass said.

The release of the new swap program comes after the Air Force barely met its active-duty recruiting goals last year and has pivoted to fixing numerous quality-of-life issues and barriers to serving in the military through policy changes.

This past March, the service was projecting a 10% shortfall for this year -- the equivalent of around 5,000 people, nearly the total of all the airmen at the 366th Fighter Wing stationed at Mountain Home Air Force Base , Idaho.

The Air Force Recruiting Service has pointed to numerous headwinds that have made it hard to bring in new members, such as low unemployment. Additionally, the Pentagon has released recent studies showing that only 23% of U.S. youth are eligible to serve right now, due to obesity and other issues.

-- Thomas Novelly can be reached at [email protected] . Follow him on Twitter @TomNovelly.

Related: Some Airmen Will Be Allowed to Swap Base Assignments Again

Thomas Novelly

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First Duty and Future Assignments in the Military

There are circumstances where military members can request assignment

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Future Assignments

Follow-on assignment, hardship assignments, joint spouse assignments, permissive reassignments, base of preference, travel entitlements, privately owned vehicle shipment.

Rod Powers was a retired Air Force First Sergeant with 22 years of active duty service.

• Air Force NCO Academy

First duty station selection is made (in either basic training or technical school/AIT/A-School), based ​upon your preferences, and the needs of the service. While the services will consider your preferences, the overriding deciding factor is where the military needs you the most.

Some Navy jobs  allow your assignment to be based on your class-standing in "A-School." And of course, it goes without saying that assignments are based on valid vacancies. If you have the job of tank-fixer, you're only going to be assigned to bases that have tanks to fix.

After the first duty assignment, subsequent assignments are done a little differently. In most cases, you'll have a little more say in future assignments, than you have for the first duty assignment . There are a few restrictions, however.

First-term (those in their first enlistment ) enlisted members assigned to a continental (CONUS) U.S. location must have 12 months time-on-station before being eligible to move to an overseas location and must have 24 months time-on-station before being allowed to move to another continental U.S. location.

Career (those who have re-enlisted at least once) enlisted members assigned to the continental U.S. must have 24 months time-on-station to move to an overseas location and must have 36 months time-on-station in order to move to another continental U.S. location.

The length of time one spends on an overseas tour depends on the location. For example, most of Europe and Japan are considered standard overseas tours. The length of the assignment is 24 months for single people, or those with dependents who elect not to bring their dependents, and 36 months for those who bring their dependents.

Another type of overseas assignment, like most assignments to Korea, is considered remote. On a remote tour one cannot bring their family at government expense, and the tour-length is 12 months. On the other hand, those returning from a remote tour usually get assignment preference over those returning from a standard tour.

For standard overseas tours, one can generally increase his or her chances of being selected by volunteering for the extended tour length. This is the standard tour, plus 12 months.

Of course, one can be involuntarily assigned overseas as well. In general, this is done based on the military member's last overseas return date. 

A follow-on assignment is an assignment after a remote tour. Those with orders for a remote tour can apply for their next assignment before they even depart to the remote tour.

When is assigned to a 12-month remote tour, military members can move their dependents anywhere they want to live in the United States, at government expense, while the member is away. The government must then pay again to relocate the dependents from where they are living to the new assignment when the member returns from the remote tour. Single people, even though they don't have dependents can use the follow-on program, as well.

It's important not to confuse assignments with deployments , which are of course based on many factors such as geopolitical situations and the need for U.S. military troops around the world. 

Each of the services also has procedures for hardship assignments. This allows a military member to apply for reassignment to a specific area/base, due to a valid family hardship. The military's definition of hardship is when there are extreme family problems such as illness, death, or extremely unusual circumstances that are temporary in nature and the specific circumstances necessitate the military member's presence.

If the problem is not one that can be resolved within one year, a  hardship discharge  will be considered, rather than a hardship assignment.

When one military member is married to another military member, both must apply to be assigned together. This is called a joint spouse assignment. The military will try to assign spouses together, but there are no guarantees. The success rate for joint spouse assignments is about 85 percent.

Joint spouse assignments are obviously much easier to accommodate if both spouses are in the same branch of the military. 

A permissive reassignment is one that doesn't cost the government any money. Most permissive reassignments are in the form of swaps, which is when one military member finds another with the same rank and job, currently assigned (or with orders) to a base they want to go to.

Both members who agree to swap must pay for their own move. This includes shipment of personal property. Usually, military personnel offices maintain lists of military people worldwide who are looking to swap. In order to be eligible for a swap, one must have the required time-on-station mentioned above. In other words, a first-termer must have 24 months time-on-station to swap with someone at another continental U.S. location.

Before a military member re-enlists, he can apply to move to a base of his choice. The military, of course, wants this person to re-enlist, so they try to accommodate such base of preference requests. If approved, the member must then re-enlist to accept the assignment. 

When you graduate technical school, the military will pay the authorized costs for you to go to your next duty assignment or, to the port of your military flight for overseas assignments. 

The military does not pay you for travel on leave. They pay you for direct travel from your old duty assignment to your next duty assignment. If you travel home on leave, any additional cost is out of your pocket.

If you own a vehicle and get an overseas assignment, the military will either ship the vehicle for you or store it while you are away. 

Some locations don't allow the shipping of a personal vehicle and others restrict this privilege to certain ranks. In these cases, the military will store the vehicle for you for free while you are assigned overseas.

The military will pay to move your personal property from your home location to your first permanent duty station, or, you can rent a truck, move it yourself. In such cases, the military will reimburse you a portion of what it would have paid a contractor to move the vehicle.

• A Comprehensive Guide to Military Pay
• Air Force Assignment System
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Raise your hand: new First Sergeant Assignments Program

Photo By Tech. Sgt. Kirsten Brandes | U.S. Air Force Master Sgt. Davina Tunstall, 86th Comptroller Squadron and Wing Staff... ... read more read more

Photo By Tech. Sgt. Kirsten Brandes | U.S. Air Force Master Sgt. Davina Tunstall, 86th Comptroller Squadron and Wing Staff Agencies first sergeant, poses for a photo recreating a World War 1 recruiting poster on Ramstein Air Base, Germany, Nov. 4, 2019. The poster is meant to bring attention to the new volunteer-driven process for selecting first sergeant prospects, called the First Sergeant Assignments Program. (U.S. Air Force photo illustration by Staff Sgt. Kirsten Brandes)   see less | View Image Page

RAMSTEIN AIR BASE, GERMANY

Story by staff sgt. kirsten brandes  , 86th airlift wing.

RAMSTEIN AIR BASE, Germany -- First sergeants from around Ramstein Air Base, Germany, gathered in the Hercules Theater on Nov. 4, 2019, to host a forum and answer questions about the recent changes to the first sergeant selection process. In September, the Air Force Personnel Center announced the removal of the first sergeant assignment from the Developmental Special Duty selection process. While the DSD legacy process operated strictly on nominations, the new process will rely on a combination of volunteer and nominated senior noncommissioned officers with at least one year time-in-grade as a master sergeant. To explain the details and answer questions about the new process, U.S. Air Force Master Sgt. Shannon Tabor, first sergeant functional assignment manager for AFPC, traveled from Joint Base San Antonio. “What we’ve done is restructured, for the better,” Tabor said. “Now as a volunteer program, it’s absolutely amazing, from what I’m seeing on my end, the amount of people raising their hand to serve as a first sergeant.” This transition is vital to cultivating a strong first sergeant corps. “I look at this change as a step towards putting the right people in these positions,” said U.S. Air Force Master Sgt. Davina Tunstall, 86th Comptroller Squadron and Wing Staff Agencies first sergeant. “There are some first sergeants today that never wanted to be first sergeants, and that can come across as negative to people, because the attitude is different. Now we’re getting people that volunteer for it and want to do it.” This change aligns with the sentiments of Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. David L. Goldfein’s squadron revitalization initiative. “Our leadership knows that the triad — the commander, the superintendent, and the first sergeant — in every unit across the Air Force is absolutely paramount to the success of the unit and our Airmen,” Tabor said. “If we get that structured right, with a good strong triad of leadership in the unit, that makes our force strong.” For more information about the new First Sergeant Assignments Program, visit MyPers (http://www.mypers.af.mil/) and search “First Sergeant."

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Making sure the Ellsworth Air Force Base expansion is smooth for everyone involved

RAPID CITY, S.D. (KOTA) - The federal government is investing two billion dollars to expand Ellsworth Air Force Base In Box Elder. The new B-21 Raider Bomber fleet and 4,064 additional Air Force personnel are set to arrive at the facility soon.

The State of South Dakota is preparing for the expansion of the base and the people who live there. Mike Walsh, the co-chair of the Ellsworth Air Force Base legislative committee says the top priority for this expansion is to offer comfort for military members and their families.

“I’m a military veteran but more importantly I’m also the spouse of a military member and I know when the families come in they want a great community to be part of and part of that is schools and part of that is infrastructure, part of that is things to do off duty whether it’s parks or movie theaters or anything along those lines so priority number one is to ensure we’re ready for those families that come in,” Walsh said.

The Legislature’s Executive Board has established an Ellsworth Task Force to help ensure an easy transition for the new Ellsworth Air Force Base and its staff.

Copyright 2024 KOTA. All rights reserved.

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Air Force opens applications for warrant officer jobs in cyber, IT

This story was updated April 25 at 4:18 p.m. to include a statement from Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall.

The Air Force on Thursday opened applications to join its first warrant officer corps in nearly 45 years as the service seeks to ramp up its technical and operational expertise in cyber and information technology operations.

The new program will train a first cohort of up to 60 airmen as subject matter experts who will advise leaders and staff on technical needs while mentoring others.

They’ll staff two new career fields: warfighter communications and IT systems operations (17W), which will plan for, deploy and secure communication systems; and cyber effects and warfare operations (17Y), which will play a similar role in cyber operations, including across the military and interagency platforms.

Air Force eyes picking first cyber warrant officer cohort this summer

Air force warrant officers could bridge the knowledge gaps between niche specialties like expeditionary communications and defensive cyber operations..

News that the service was planning to bring back warrant officers surfaced earlier this year . Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall formally announced plans for the new roles in February as part of a sweeping set of initiatives to boost military readiness and outpace China and other adversaries in future conflicts.

“We need operational units with all the capabilities they need to deter and compete with our pacing challenges and ready to enter a conflict on short or no notice,” Kendall said. “In those units we need the right mix of skills necessary for high end combat and to ensure technological superiority, particularly in information technology and cyber.”

By reintroducing warrant officers into its cyber and IT workforces, the Air Force said in a release, it hopes to address critical operational needs while retaining “highly perishable skills” in specialties for which the service has struggled to compete with the private sector, like defensive cyber operations.

“The reintroduction of the warrant officer career path reflects the Air Force’s commitment to expanding and retaining technical excellence, essential for maintaining a strategic advantage in an era defined by great power competition,” Chief of Staff Gen. David Allvin said. “By investing in talent management programs that preserve proficiency and competence in our perishable and highly technical skills, the Air Force aims to ensure its readiness to stay ahead of rapidly advancing threats and safeguard national security interests effectively.”

Air Force may bring back warrant officers to boost technical expertise

A training pipeline for up to 30 junior warrant officers could be in the works to begin later this year..

Used across the Army, Marine Corps and Navy, warrant officers rank between commissioned officers and the enlisted corps and are highly trained technical experts who specialize in a single field, like intelligence or maintenance.

The Air Force phased out warrant officers in 1959 after the establishment of the senior master sergeant and chief master sergeant ranks (E-8 and E-9). Warrant officer jobs were deemed too inflexible to meet the Air Force’s personnel needs, according to the Warrant Officer Historical Association.

Those senior noncommissioned officers took on the technical duties of warrant officers as well as other work duties, like those necessary for advancement. New warrant officers will be able to focus more deeply on their specialties, an Air Force official said Thursday.

The service had considered relaunching the rank at other points in recent years, including as an option to reverse a pilot shortage , but decided that the move could prove too costly without boosting retention. Air Force officials have said they may add warrant officers into other career fields as well.

Applications for the cyber and IT warrant officer jobs are open to all airmen across the active duty force, Air Force Reserve and Air National Guard who hold the rank of staff sergeant (E-5) or higher. In addition to the active duty force, warrant officers will also serve in the reserve and National Guard.

Those looking to join the communications and IT systems field must have served in a related role, like managing voice and data networks, for at least two years, and have reached a certain level of Defense Department-approved certification in information assurance, the service said.

Candidates for the cyber effects and warfare operations jobs must have “senior-level proficiency in a U.S. Cyber Command work roles” or the National Security Agency equivalent; hold certain technical certifications or have three years’ experience in system-level programming, the Air Force said.

Airmen can find specific application requirements in MyPers and apply through MyFFS .

The window to apply closes May 31, and a selection board will meet in late June to identify top candidates. Those selected will be notified in late July and will attend a new Warrant Officer Training School at Maxwell Air Force Base, Alabama, by early next year. The first cohort will be split into two classes of 30.

Newly minted warrant officers will then be reassigned to operational units across the Air Force. The service doesn’t have a specific goal for the number of people it will send to each career field.

They will be paid in accordance with the Pentagon’s current pay scale , which starts at around $3,700 per month for a W-1 with two years of service or less.

“These are highly in-demand, and also extremely perishable, skills in today’s rapidly evolving landscape,” Chief Master Sergeant of the Air Force David Flosi said in a statement.

“As we navigate the complexities of great power competition, our ability to adapt and innovate hinges on the expertise of our airmen,” Flosi said. “Using our airmen’s full potential is not just a strategic advantage; it’s a necessity for our Air Force’s readiness and effectiveness in the face of a challenging strategic environment.”

A previous version of this story stated that warrant officer applications were opened for active duty service. That has been updated to indicate that applications are open for the total force.

Courtney Mabeus-Brown is the senior reporter at Air Force Times. She is an award-winning journalist who previously covered the military for Navy Times and The Virginian-Pilot in Norfolk, Va., where she first set foot on an aircraft carrier. Her work has also appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, Foreign Policy and more.

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Video shows Florida authorities wrangling huge alligator at Air Force base

By Christopher Brito

April 23, 2024 / 2:05 PM EDT / CBS News

Video shows Florida authorities wrangling a large alligator that wandered onto the MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa. 

Footage released by the base on Monday shows what military officials described as their "newest toothy Airman" as it was being reined in by two Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission officers. In the clip, gator tried to break loose multiple times.

Photos from the base also showed the animal resting underneath a wheel of one of their aircraft. After capturing it, the nearly 10-foot-long gator was moved to a "more suitable environment" and relocated to the Hillsborough River, the commission said, according to  CBS affiliate WTSP.  

Officials with the base said the commission believed this alligator strayed away from its home because of another enormous alligator named Elvis , who's known for his 12-foot length and who roams the area. In 2018, Elvis was described as an "absolute monster" and "like a freaking dinosaur" in a video of him walking across a golf course at the base .  

Christopher Brito is a social media manager and trending content writer for CBS News.

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F-16 fighter jet crashes near Holloman Air Force Base

WHITE SANDS NATIONAL PARK, N.M. (AP) — An F-16 fighter jet crashed west of Holloman Air Force Base in New Mexico on Tuesday and the pilot safely ejected, authorities say.

Base officials said the Fighting Falcon went down near White Sands National Park shortly before noon.

The pilot was the only person aboard and was taken by ambulance to a hospital for medical care, base spokesperson Denise Ottaviano said.

Base officials said an investigation was launched to determine the cause of the crash.

The F-16 was assigned to the 49th Wing at the base.

Authorities said all non-emergency personnel were being told to avoid the crash site to prevent possible exposure to hazardous chemicals aboard the downed plane.

Copyright 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.

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