Page 21 - Desert Lightning News So. AZ Edition, June 2 2017

Desert Lightning News June 2, 2017 21 www.aerotechnews.com/davis-monthanafb
across the Air Force. A comprehensive review of du- ties under the direct control of the Air Force resulted in the elimination, reassignment, or reduction of 29 of 61 additional duties identified under Air Force Instruction 38-206, “Additional Duty Management.”
While this lessened the workload for the majority of Airmen within the service, many of the duties were realigned under CSS. In August 2016 the Air Force com- mitted to ensuring CSS requirements are funded and po- sitions filled as quickly as possible within budget limits.
The new positions will be prioritized by need across the Air Force. Some of the more than 1,975 active-duty squadrons are already fully manned while others are minimally manned. The Air Force will work with major commands to assess areas of greatest need and prioritize manning.
Davis said the manning increase is key to re- establishing the CSS to full capability.
“The CSS provides critical support to the squadron, but not all of these positions were fully funded in the past,” Davis said. “We’re fixing that and will also add new positions to increase the level of CSS support for many squadrons. Fully funding the increased CSS requirement is a key element in revitalizing Air Force squadrons.”
Air Force proposes 1,600 personnel increase to command support staffs
Facebook.com/DesertLightningNews
Former 12 AF/CCC Article 32 hearing scheduled
JoiNT BASe LANgLeY euSTiS, Va. — An Article 32 hear- ing for Chief Master Sgt. Jose Barraza, previously assigned as the 12th Air Force Command chief master sergeant, took place on May 23 at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base as the result of charges stemming from an investigation conducted by the Air Force Office of Special Investigations.
Barraza is charged with one specification for willfully disobey- ing an order, seven specifications for dereliction of duty, two speci- fications for making false official statements, two specifications of indecent recording and five specifications for obstruction of justice in violation of Uniform Code of Military Justice Articles 90, 92, 107, 120c and 134 respectively. Col. Scott Campbell, 355th Fighter Wing commander, preferred these specifications on March 30, 2017, and May 18, 2017.
An Article 32 hearing is mandated by the UCMJ before charges against a military member can be referred to a general court- martial. The purpose of the Article 32 preliminary hearing is to examine those issues necessary to determine whether there is probable cause to believe an offense has been committed and whether the accused committed it.
For more information, call Air Combat Command Public Affairs at 757-764-5007 or e-mail at accpa.operations@us.af.mil.
Courtesy of acc.af.mil
by Staff Sgt. ALYSSA giBSoN
Secretary of the Air Force Public Affairs
wAShiNgToN — The Air Force plans to increase commander support staff manning across the force by 1,600 by fiscal year 2022 increasing total authoriza- tions to more than 6,300.
Currently, the personnel increase calls for 170 of- ficers, 469 enlisted and 961 civilians with all civilian hires authorized for fiscal 2018.
The increase in CSS manning ties directly to the Air Force chief of staff ’s first focus area — revitalizing squadrons. Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. David Gold- fein announced this focus area within the first month of his tenure, and appointed Brig. Gen. Stephen Davis, the director of Air Force manpower, organization and resources, as lead of this initiative.
“Squadrons are the core unit of the Air Force,” Davis said. “We must ensure they have the support required to accomplish the mission and support their Airmen. This is one step of many we plan to take to help revitalize Air Force squadrons.”
One of the first milestones of revitalizing squadrons was the reduction of additional duties for Airmen
ADVErSIT y
ation. Elliott, determined to take care of himself, did not reach out for help.
“I’m stubborn, and I thought I could do it on my own,” he said. “There were a lot of times I was definitely upset about it, but I decided it was out of my control, and I couldn’t let it get to me.”
Continued struggles
During his senior year of high school, he finally opened up to one of his teachers about his situation. By that time, he had almost finished high school. Though his teacher couldn’t change what Elliott had been through, she found a way to offer him a scholarship to college. Elliott said he declined the scholarship because he could not imagine himself ever getting a college degree.
When graduation day finally came, El- liott attended, but said it wasn’t much of a celebration.
“I had no plans at all,” Elliott said. “I was pretty much lost at that time.”
Without a plan or dreams of college, El- liott got a job in a factory, working 40 to 50 hours a week. The job was strenuous, but it paid the bills and offered him more finan- cial stability than he had known before.
“I was making $10 an hour and doing well for myself,” he said. “I thought I could do it for the rest of my life, and I would be okay. But after a year straight of that, I realized the work was killing my body, my mind, everything.”
Before he had the chance to look for another job, Elliott was laid off from the factory. He found a position working in hospitality at a ski resort, but the work was seasonal; when winter came and went, so did his income. That’s when he found himself sleeping in his car.
“At the time I didn’t have anyone else to turn to or anywhere to go,” he said. “I thought it would just be for a few nights.”
Joining the Air National Guard
Knowing he couldn’t go on living in his car, Elliott decided his best option was to enlist in the military. When the active- duty Air Force recruiter told him it would be at least a year before he could go to ba- sic training, he researched other options. That’s when he found the Air National Guard. He knew it was an opportunity for a better life and a chance to serve.
“I didn’t have that much time,” Elliott said. “I contacted the Guard recruiter. He said I could enlist the following week. I hadn’t even known the Guard existed.”
The new airman thrived in the military environment, earning the distinguished graduate award from his technical train- ing school program. But reality set in for him during the last week of training. Up until that point he had been busy and had not thought about what it would mean when he completed his orders. He was unsure of the life he was going back to when his training was finished.
Elliott returned to Utah’s 151st Air Refueling Wing, at Roland R. Wright Air National Guard Base, and began his job as a services technician. He said he immedi- ately felt welcomed into the military family.
Once he had spent some time on orders learning his new specialty, he was given the opportunity to work at the Airman and Family Readiness Center, assisting the program manager, Jill Lukes. During the time he worked for Lukes, Elliott opened up to her about his background and the hardships he faced growing up. The two built a friendship and she introduced El- liott to her family.
“It took a while for us to build trust with him,” Lukes said. “I think he needed to know that we weren’t going to leave him.”
Lukes, shares eight children with her husband Douglas, a retired chief master sergeant from the 151st Civil Engineer Squadron. She said her entire family em-
braced Elliott with open arms. She now considers herself a mother to nine children. “He really became part of our family,” she said. “We joke that we are his Guard-
parents.”
“I’ve seen his attitude and how he over-
came so much as a young man,” Lukes said. “From where he’s come and where he’s been, you can’t help but love him. He has a heart of gold.”
Finding success
Feeling more settled than ever in the Air National Guard, Elliott joined the base Honor Guard and participated in nearly 70 ceremonies and funerals in just a few years. He also volunteered for two six- month deployments. When he returned from overseas, he attended Airman Lead- ership School and took home the John L. Levitow Award for the most outstanding leadership and scholastic achievement among his classmates. In 2012, he was named 151st ARW Airman of the Year.
In 2015, Elliott retrained into public affairs, after staff saw his personal pho- tography portfolio and recruited him. His supervisor at the time, Air Force Master Sgt. Kelly Collett, said he was humbled and impressed by Elliott as he got to know him on the job.
“I would have never imagined that the young, talented, kind and well-mannered young Airman I had been working with would have ever come from such a trying and difficult life,” Collett said. “I could not believe that such a young man would have the strength and will to push himself to be successful in life after all that he had endured as a young man.”
Elliott said he attributes his success to his determination to take advantage of every single opportunity presented to him — a mantra he still practices today. He also takes advantage of opportunities to volunteer as often as he can.
(from Page 20)
“I felt like being in uniform gave me a new purpose,” Elliott said of his service in the ANG. “When I put it on, I was some- body, and I’ve felt compelled to give back.”
Collett said when Elliott deployed, he had American flags flown over differ- ent bases and in different aircraft, then donated them to children with terminal illnesses. The gesture helped to brighten the days of some very sick children and their families.
“He wasn’t looking for attention or grati- tude, but to make someone else’s day a bit brighter,” Collett said. “He gives freely because he knows what it was like to have nothing, and I believe that he doesn’t want anyone to suffer the same fate.”
Elliott is now a photojournalist at the Missouri Air National Guard’s 131st Bomb Wing. He attends school full time studying mass communications, and is more than halfway through his degree program. He said he sometimes finds it hard to believe the things that he has achieved.
“I honestly would have laughed at you if you told me I would be in college,” he said. “My life has completely turned around, and is attributed to the Guard and to all the people that have helped me.”
Elliott has served in the ANG for almost seven years and said he definitely plans to stay in for a full career. The Guard has given him opportunities that have taken him around the world — far from the car he was living in when he started his journey.
“Once I joined the Guard, I finally felt like I had family,” he said. “I went from having no one to having people all over who are there for me.”
Elliott added, “That’s why I stay. One day, I hope to be there for someone the same way that people have been there for me.”