LITTLE ROCK AIR FORCE BASE, Ark. -- Col. Jason Delamater, Air Mobility Command director of manpower, personnel, and services, and Chief Master Sgt. Nina Murphy, AMC senior enlisted leader of manpower, personnel, and services, visited the home of Herk Nation at Little Rock Air Force Base, March 4-5, 2024.
They had the opportunity to interact with Airmen across the 19th Airlift Wing, particularly focusing on engaging with the 19th Force Support Squadron. This visit provided insight into the squadron's specific needs and underscored its pivotal role in supporting the broader mission of AMC.
“Visits like this matter because when you’re working at the staff level it’s very easy to get disconnected from what’s actually happening with our operational units and staying connected is crucial,” said Delamater. “It’s always important to make sure that the things we’re focused on are relevant and are in alignment with our Airmen. Being able to come down to the installations and seeing our direct impact is always incredibly validating and helpful.”
During the visit, Delamater sat down with the 19th AW Public Affairs office and answered some questions on recent Air Force personnel changes and the impact it may have on Airmen.
Delamater spoke to the reintroduction of the rank of warrant officer within the information technology and cyber fields as a way to maintain technical leadership with those skills.
“We recognize that there are certain skills that are in high demand for the military, and particularly the Air Force, and understand these skills are perishable due to rapid changes in the career field and the high demand both in and out of the military,” said Delamater. “This reintroduction creates opportunities for Airmen to advance and progress in their capabilities, while also preserving those perishable skills and keeping them on the Air Force team.”
Delamater emphasized the significance of adapting and advancing training programs to meet the evolving demands of the Air Force, such as the utilization of the electronic Weighted Airman Promotion System test.
The eWAPS platform is a collaborative effort between the Air Force, the Personnel Data Research Institute and PearsonVUE. Airmen participating in the 2024 technical sergeant and staff sergeant promotion cycles will be the first to use this system.
“Many of our Airmen are already pursuing academic endeavors, including degrees and other certifications, and the e-WAPS system is something that’s already widely used in the industry,” said Delamater. “We now have the ability to test our Airmen in a mode and platform that they’re familiar with and make it easier for us to execute certain requirements. This is our chance to show how the Air Force is looking to advance and transform the way that we do a lot of our IT programs.”
Another initiative aimed at modernizing the Air Force's IT human resources infrastructure is the myDecs Reimagined platform.
The new application on the myFSS platform, will be a single-page experience and allows ad-hoc routing to any myFSS user. The new application also eliminates the need for multiple screens found in the previous version.
“I think we’ve learned a lot of lessons and addressed concerns, like allowing more flexibility in control for users,” Delamater said. “We recognize that we push a lot of these responsibilities down into units and our main objective is to do anything we can to make that experience more intuitive, streamlined and quicker.”
Overall, the visit reaffirmed Team Little Rock 's unwavering commitment to empowering Airmen, fostering innovation, and ensuring readiness in an ever-changing strategic environment. Through continued collaboration and adaptation, AMC stands ready to meet the challenges of tomorrow while preserving its legacy of excellence in global mobility operations.
See below for more from Delamater’s Q&A portion:
Q: The Department of the Air Force’s senior civilian and military leaders, recently unveiled plans for reshaping, refocusing, and reoptimizing the Air Force and Space Force. These plans speak to developing “Mission Ready Airmen” with training focused on a mix of skills needed for wartime operational mission readiness,” do you anticipate bases across AMC will begin to emulate Little Rock AFB’s WAR Center concept?
A: Everyone I've talked to here at Little Rock is super proud of the WAR Center and the capability that it brings. Seeing what Airmen are taking away from the WAR Center, both from a leadership standpoint and just an experience standpoint is powerful. I think that's something that the Air Force is looking at establishing. I don't know if it'll be a direct imitation of what you have here at Little Rock, but I do believe we're going to have to build a construct that encourages the development of those skill sets.
Q: Is this re-optimization driving any other major personnel changes across the MAJCOM?
A: We're going to establish an organization called Airman Development Command that will be responsible for the kind of the lifecycle of training and development for all Airmen to a certain level of standard. So, one thing that we're kind of watching is whether there still needs to be some sort of capability within this organization to train and develop the skill sets that are that are unique to AMC.
Q: How does the Air Force determine which portions of the AFI 36-2903 will be updated?
A: The Chief of Staff of the Air Force will hold a uniform board once every two years, I believe, and typically that board convenes to meet and determine and examine any recommended changes to the Air Force dress and appearance uniforms and grooming standards.
Q: Could you go into more depth about the uniform board change process?
A: There are representatives from across the headquarters of the Air Force Staff that will be a part of that conversation. There's also a process where commands can submit recommendations for changes, and that's essentially what the board convenes to discuss and then they review those items and present those as the decision.