FTAC changes bring new perspectives

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman Timothy Moore
  • 355th Fighter Wing Public Affairs
DAVIS-MONTHAN AIR FORCE BASE, Ariz. --  It has been more than a year since the First Term Airman Center here implemented changes to its program in accordance with Headquarters Air Force.

The changes included the introduction of micro briefs, which are intended to prevent first-term Airmen from receiving duplicate briefings at career intervals.

Master Sgt. April Little, 355th Force Support Squadron career assistance advisor, oversees the program and changes to reduced unnecessary portions, a task which Chief Master Sgt. Dawna Cnota, 355th Fighter Wing command chief, had already planned to tackle.

"Chief Cnota was already on a mission to reduce the redundancy," Little said. "She spent a lot of time with the FTAC students the very first and very last day, getting a lot of their input and feedback."

Taking that feedback into account and working in accordance with HQ AF's direction, Little oversaw the reduction in the number and length of the FTAC briefings.

HQ AF provided a list of mandatory topics to be covered and gave guidance on how thoroughly each topic should be covered. Mandatory topics, such as Personal Financial Management; Substance Abuse Education, Prevention, and Treatment; and Resilience Training, are covered at all bases.

The changes allow career assistance advisors to tailor briefings to their bases' specific needs.

"We were given the power to change the briefings from a minimum one-hour block to a micro brief at 15 minutes," Little said. "We are given more flexibility with how much time our base needs to discuss specific issues."

Changes did not stop at FTAC. The Bay Orderly program has also been reduced to a one-week program.

Prior to the changes, all FTAC Airmen living in the dormitories would become bay orderlies for two weeks after FTAC. Now, first sergeants coordinate to send eight Airmen to the bay orderly program for a week to help maintain the cleanliness of the dorms alongside other Airmen already in the dorms.

Little said Cnota initiated this change, because she did not want Airmen to feel as if they were being welcomed to the Air Force just to clean up behind other individuals. The inclusion of non-FTAC Airmen is also intended to provide those Airmen with a sense of pride and ownership in their living quarters.

For more information about FTAC, contact the D-M Career Assistance Advisor office at 228-1605.