This window from roughly 7 to 16 years represents the time in officers’ careers when their accumulated Air Force–wide and career-field experience and expertise are typically leveraged by the organization to obtain the greatest value.
That is, in this range there are relatively fewer personnel at each year mark than in the years before and immediately after the low region. The committee makes the following general observations based on the data presented in these charts:Īs shown in Figures D-3 through D-8, these six career fields except 33S share some sort of workforce “bathtub” for officers with 7 to 16 career years of service (CYOS). In Appendix D, Figures D-3 to D-10, which were included in presentations from the Chief of the Force Management Division and the Headquarters Air Force Personnel Center, present additional perspectives on the current authorization structure and inventory for the five career fields that require a STEM degree and the Acquisition Management career field. There are gaps in the numbers of advanced STEM degrees and in the skill mixes degree holders need to have, both now and for anticipated future requirements. It has been difficult to retain technically qualified personnel, both military and civilians (as complementary components). Manning in captain and field-grade ranks has been insufficient to meet authorizations. In several presentations to the committee, representatives of various Air Force communities shared common concerns regarding the consequences of these manning conditions for officers in the five STEM-degree-requiring career fields. Perceptions from the Air Force STEM Communities The shortage of field-grade assignments for the 63A Acquisition Management career field is discussed in Chapter 4. The 61S and 62E career fields have below-average proportions of field-grade authorizations but also have below-average proportions of field-grade strengths, probably reflecting some combination of low retention, low promotion rates, and migration of more experienced or tenured officers to the 63A career field. The 33S career field has an above-average proportion of field-grade authorizations but a below-average proportion of field-grade officers assigned, consistent with the lower field-grade manning levels shown in Table 3-2. In short, they are manned about as well as could be expected. As indicated in Table 3-4, 15W and 32E field-grade authorizations are close to the line-officer aggregate figures, and their major, lieutenant colonel, and colonel manning levels indicated in Table 3-2 reflect this. 1, 2 In summary, the low manning levels for captains (compared to authorized numbers) in the 32E, 61S, and 62E career fields probably result from a combination of high attrition and nonsustainable authorized grade structures.įor the aggregate line-officer force, field-grade authorizations are 47.3 percent of total authorizations, while field-grade assigned strength is 45.1 percent of total (see Table 3-1). If the ratio is lower than 2.1:1, it is likely that the career field has experienced higher-than-normal attrition of captains, induced at least in part by the force reductions associated with Program Budget Decision 720. Assuming a relatively level number of accessions from year to year, a career field with average retention would mirror this ratio. All of the captain-to-lieutenant assigned strength ratios in the five STEM-requiring career fields are lower than the 2.1:1 Air Force average. Assuming no change in authorizations, shortages of officers in these career fields could be corrected only by increasing overall officer strength in the Air Force or by imposing even greater shortages on other career fields.Īs indicated in Table 3-1, the average manning level for a line-officer career field is 128.6 percent for lieutenants and 90.8 percent for captains. Requiring career fields is above the 96.1 percent total manning level for line officers. SOURCE: Headquarters Air Force Personnel Center, Directorate of Assignments, January 2009. TABLE 3-2 Manning in STEM-Requiring and Acquisition Management Career Fields
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