MOUNTAIN HOME AIR FORCE BASE, Idaho -- “The only constant is change” – a phrase airmen live by on a daily basis. But unlike the budgetary and manning changes in recent history that have put a strain on many career fields, the Air Force Personnel Center’s list of 2016 changes are aimed at improving airmen’s resiliency, career opportunities and quality of life.
“From the way we write evaluations to growing our force, we have seen many programs implemented these past few months,” said 366th Force Support Squadron Commander Maj. Nekitha Little. “Certainly here at Mountain Home we’re doing our best to ensure timely and accurate information is disseminated to the base population.”
Little says the Air Force is dedicated to taking care of their number-one weapons system: our Airmen.
To start, AFPC expanded selected re-enlistment bonuses to include almost three times the eligible career fields, and has increased high-year tenure for several career fields.
With the implementation of the new enlisted evaluation system, promotions are also seeing a few changes. The number of enlisted performance reports eligible for review for senior NCOs will decrease from ten to five and time-in-service and time-in-grade points for promotion to SSgt and higher will continue to decrease over the next couple years.
To combat smaller numbers in critically-manned career fields, some Air Force specialty codes received an extended high-year of tenure. Eligible airmen were notified by their commanders of the extension earlier this year.
Finally, Secretary of the Air Force Deborah Lee James approved the extension of both maternity and paternity leave, and extended the time new mothers have before taking their fitness assessments.
The list of changes are long, and can affect every airman differently. For specific questions, guidance or concerns, contact the Mountain Home AFB Military Personnel Flight at 828-2133.