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ALS Introduces A-Staff concepts

  • Published
  • By Airman 1st Class Vaughn Weber
  • 355 WG/PA

The Chief Master Sgt. Carl E. Beck Airmen Leadership School is introducing A-Staff concepts along with the new Combat Air Force’s Force Generation (CAFFORGEN) model into their courses at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, Arizona, June 17, 2022.

Air Combat Command is phasing out the Air Expeditionary Force deployment model and implementing the CAFFORGEN. The Air Force has been using the AEF model for more than 20 years which handled deployments by crowd sourcing any available Airmen as opposed to the new model which grabs Airmen from the same base. Introducing this model into ALS allows staff selects to stress this when they bring it back to their Airmen.

“Ensuring that Airmen at Davis-Monthan are ready is the responsibility of non-commissioned officers at all levels,” said Master Sgt. Derek Allen, 355th Force Support Squadron ALS Commandant. “To do this we need to educate them on the process and give them the why. This ensures that the newest Air Force supervisors are prepared to get after our Wing and Air Force missions when they return to their formations.”

This four phase model is aimed at increasing and sustaining readiness. The four phases are available to commit, reset, prepare and ready. Forces will deploy as needed in the available to commit phase, recuperate in the reset phase, work towards peak unit readiness in the prepare phase to certify them to deploy in the ready phase.

This CAFFORGEN model is focused on providing a more consistent battle rhythm, to benefit both the health of Airmen and the overall force.

“Making sure that Airmen are aware of where this is going in the future is going to be important to them understanding the mission that they serve today,” said Senior Airman Colton Engle, 355th Munitions Squadron aircraft maintenance crew chief. “This is the reason why we are here at ALS learning about this so that we are able to impart that knowledge later on.”

Airmen will also be able to know ahead of time who they are deploying with, which provides flexibility and predictability for wing commanders to plan exercises, money, manpower and moves around this information. The commander will in turn be able to submit names of those eligible for deployment.

“One of the things we have to take a look at during this week is how the students in their career-fields contribute to squadron, group and wing missions,” said Tech. Sgt. Andrew Denny Airman Leadership School Instructor. “We brought the A-Staff in to help students get a better understanding of how they contribute to where we’re going as big Air Force.”

This gives NCOs the ability to transform the strategic visions into tactical actions to ensure that DM’s Lead Wing is ready to Rescue & Attack!