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Air Force continues to pursue total force integration6 March 18, 2016

By Secretary of the Air Force Public Affairs reserve personnel and technicians from training active component students as a
primary duty.
WASHINGTON (AFNS) -- The Air Force continues to make strides toward total
force integration, according to an annual report submitted to Congress March 4. While Congress granted temporary and limited relief in the fiscal 2016 National
Defense Authorization Act, the Air Force is pursuing an extension of that tempo-
The report is based on recommendations from the National Commission on the rary authority while continuing to pursue multiple solutions to facilitate total force
Structure of the Air Force and focuses on how the force structure should be modi- training.
fied to best fill current and future mission requirements, an area Air Force senior
leaders have been vocal about, expressing their desires to continue to expand total The service’s consistent and measured move towards efficiency and effectiveness
force integration. can be seen in the Integrated Wing Pilot Program. The program, recommended by
the NCSAF, aligns Air Force associations under a single, integrated chain of com-
“We are one Air Force,” said Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Mark A. Welsh III. mand. The program will begin in fiscal 2017 with the 916th Air Refueling Wing at
“We’re committed to this idea and it’s foundational to the way we present our capa- Seymour Johnson Air Force Base, North Carolina.
bilities. We’re not going to be operationally successful any other way.”
This Integrated Wing Pilot Program will help the Air Force determine if it’s pos-
The service recently completed an intensive analysis of all Air Force primary sible to improve upon the existing association construct. If successful, the Air Force
mission areas. The analysis provided active and air reserve component force-mix could apply the lessons learned from the program to other organizations.
options and reliable data to inform future acquisition decisions. As a result, more
than a dozen force-mixing recommendations were carried into the fiscal year 2018 Total force integration is also reflected at the leadership levels. The Air Force
strategic planning process. plans to fill key leadership positions with cross-component Airmen. Currently, three
Air Force Reserve officers are set to command active component units, including
More than 78 total force integration proposals are being pursued, including 41 two maintenance squadrons and a fighter wing. Those reserve officers will parallel
recommended by the NCSAF. In fact, the Air Force has launched a series of initia- the four active component officers who are currently serving in wing or vice wing
tives designed to break down existing barriers to a total Air Force. command positions in both Air National Guard and Air Force Reserve units. Simi-
larly, the Air Force Chiefs’ Group actively considers chief master sergeants from
“The Air National Guard and Air Force Reserve provide the nation a vital capa- both the active and reserve component for certain senior enlisted billets.
bility that is functionally integrated and operationally indistinguishable from the ac-
tive force,” said Air Force Secretary Deborah Lee James. “This maximizes our total “The relationship between the Air Force and Air National Guard has never been
force and secures (our) top priorities of taking care of people, balancing today’s better in my memory and I attribute it to the leadership of Secretary James, Gen.
readiness with tomorrow’s modernization, and making every dollar count.” Welsh, Gen. Grass, and the adjutants general. We are a total Air Force and will con-
tinue to integrate active duty and Air National Guard where it benefits the nation,”
An important part of integration is having and employing the same equipment. said Maj. Gen. Brian G. Neal, the Air National Guard acting director.
The fielding of the KC-46 Pegasus and F-35 Lightning II is one example of the
service’s commitment to concurrent and proportional fielding of new equipment Neal’s remarks echo that of other total force leadership, showing the service’s
and technology. A 2016 revision of Air Force Policy Directive 10-3, Air Reserve commitment to cross-component integration as the Air Force continues to explore
Component Forces, will capture this practice. options on how to better support all Airmen, regardless of component.

Changing policies is just one step toward incorporating cross-component in-
teroperability into Air Force culture. Processes and systems must support this in-
teroperability as well. To this end, the service has undertaken
initiatives aimed at supporting total force Airmen.

For example, by expanding the Career Intermission Pro-
gram to allow members receiving retention bonuses and those
under an initial service obligation to apply and removing the
statutory participation limits, more Airmen are eligible for
this opportunity which allows Airmen the ability to transfer
out of the active component and into the Individual Ready
Reserve for up to three years while retaining certain benefits.

Also, total force Airmen transitioning from the active to
reserve component will soon be afforded the ability to ship
household goods to their reserve duty location versus their
home of record.

Other significant interoperability initiatives surround the
streamlining of cross-component personnel and pay systems.
These changes include the standing up of base-level total
force support squadrons at select locations, and the launch-
ing of a Total Force Virtual Personnel Center to facilitate
electronic processing of common awards and decorations.
Together these efforts are aimed at providing more effective
and consistent support to Airmen from all components.

“We are proud of our total force accomplishments, which
are increasingly leveraging the unique skills and experience
of the reserve component, and creating the strategic agility
required to meet the challenges emerging to our Air Force,”
said Lt. Gen. James F. Jackson, the chief of Air Force Re-
serve.

Another example of how the Air Force is leveraging the
air reserve component is the service’s pursuit of a legislative
change to allow air reserve component instructors to train, as
a primary duty, active component students. The Air Force has
2,400 instructor pilots, 600 of whom are from the air reserve
component. However, current law prohibits active guard and