USAF Releases Unclassified Sections of Strategic Master Plan 2015

http://www.defensenews.com/story/defense/air-space/air-force/2015/05/21/usaf-releases-strategic-master-plan/27726997/

From AFA - USAF Releases 20-Year Strategic Plan

—Arie Church 5/22/2015

The Air Force released the unclassified sections of its 20-year strategic master plan, which aims to outline the practical applications of the 30-year strategy published last year. "We must be more flexible in our posture at home and overseas, … align our science and technology efforts with innovative concepts … that will offer the opportunity to dominate in the future environment we envision, and adapt rapidly when it changes," service Secretary Deborah Lee James and Chief of Staff Gen. Mark Welsh wrote in the plan's introduction. The plan states that the Air Force's two main goals are to increase "agility" and "inclusiveness," according to its executive summary, released May 21. The plan targets agility by "strengthening our culture of adaptability and innovation" in future training, weapons, and organizations, according to the document. "Inclusiveness" aims at "empowering the members of the Air Force team, improving the structure and culture that populates it, and expanding our connections both outside and within the service," it states. Service leaders said the plan "fills a void in strategic direction," gives "year-on-year coherency" to planning, and provides "actionable tasks" for every level of command. The SMP gives a 20-year outlook, which will be updated every two years, while its four annexes—covering human capital, strategic posture, capabilities, and science and technology—will be updated annually.

One Reddit user argued that low promotion rates demoralize airmen who are passed over despite a “promote now” or “must promote” recommendation from their supervisors.

“You end up with dudes with ‘promote now’ and years of solid service being told ‘you still are not good enough,’” user FlyingThrowAway2009 wrote in August 2022. “It is straight up insulting.”

Bass urged airmen to consider the broader needs of the service and their field instead of making rank.

“More experience is a good thing,” Bass said. “I think that we will see the fruits of our labor as time goes on.”

Why are these posts posted in this topic?

jsport said:

The Air Force is launching an era of transformation. Can it work?

“It may be that we completely break the [Air Force Specialty Code] structure," said Lt. Gen. Caroline Miller, the service's personnel chief.

www.airforcetimes.com

One Reddit user argued that low promotion rates demoralize airmen who are passed over despite a “promote now” or “must promote” recommendation from their supervisors.

“You end up with dudes with ‘promote now’ and years of solid service being told ‘you still are not good enough,’” user FlyingThrowAway2009 wrote in August 2022. “It is straight up insulting.”

Bass urged airmen to consider the broader needs of the service and their field instead of making rank.

“More experience is a good thing,” Bass said. “I think that we will see the fruits of our labor as time goes on.”

Click to expand...

Many moons ago, when I was still in the Navy, my sub had a dude get kidney stones blocking both sides. Dude couldn't pee at all, poor bastard. This is a major medical emergency, but we're out in the middle of the Pacific, well beyond where any helicopter can reach. We're so far out that it takes us a week of Flank Speed and only slowing down to check our radio messages every so often to get within Pave Hawk range of the coast. And even that was one Pave Hawk plus a PAIR of C-130 tankers to give the Pave Hawk enough legs to get to us.

The PJs drop in, scoop up poor Dude, and they're gone in minutes. They seriously might have only been on the deck for 3 minutes. Just long enough to get Dude into one of their own safety harnesses to haul into the helo.

We come back in, and Dude is back. He's got the business cards of the whole crew that grabbed him, one card says "SRA". WTF is an SRA? That's USAF for Senior Airman, which is an E4. That PJ had been in the USAF for 14 years and was only an E4. The PJ job description is "jump out of a helicopter into the middle of a firefight to rescue whoever needs it." And they can't freaking promote someone.

so much about how the Enlisted are treated and retained or not is beyond criminal. it is amazing we have enlisted ranks in the US.

jsport said:

so much about how the Enlisted are treated and retained or not is beyond criminal. it is amazing we have enlisted ranks in the US.

Click to expand...

It's the difference between "doing the thing" (enlisted) and "deciding what thing to do" (officers). Every military needs that distinction to function.