Comprehensive Airmen extends to civilians

  • Published
  • By Elizabeth Schwan
  • 60th Air Mobility Wing Director of Staff
TRAVIS AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. --  As the Air Force sets new parameters to tackle the health and wellness of our Airmen, the following discussion will not solely focus on the Comprehensive Airmen Fitness paradigm.

Rather, I'd like to dig deeper into the color and make-up of our Airmen across the board and discuss much deeper issues infiltrating our "total force."

The Air Force is made up of a very diverse set of capabilities --- fighters, bombers, mobility assets, air operations centers, battlefield Airmen, space and missiles, and so on.

However, the core of the Air Force's competency lies within its people---the military and civilian members, as well as, the families of these members, who build the foundation of this great Service and maintain its wide-spread capabilities -- day in, and day out. These members, in my eyes, build the all-encompassing, comprehensive Airmen -- a force so well-built and industrious; so diverse and capable; so assuring and entrusting.

CAF outlines four pillars--physical, mental, spiritual and social with "leadership" as the underlying foundation. Each pillar lays out inclusive guidelines of programs and initiatives depicting how the Air Force leadership can nurture and take care of our people.
The program is comprehensive --- there's not a better word to describe. Caring, committing, connecting, communicating and celebrating our Airmen are pivotal means to ensuring a solid and future Air Force. Here's another--understanding and embracing the dynamic make-up of our Airmen.

My previous assignment had biased me to a certain extent. At Headquarters Air Force, Washington it was a rarity to see a First Lieutenant, let alone an Airmen First Class.

Civil servant Air Force members and Contractors made up a huge part of the "Blue" Force---before and after Program Budget Decision-720, the directive which changed the scope of the Air Force and began the onset of "reducing the force." Civilian and contract Airmen, during the early stages of Operation Enduring Freedom and later Operation Iraqi Freedom, led the staffing process for all of the Air Force to practice.
 
While the days at the five-sided engine wore me and my colleagues down to the bone, there was an indisputable and distinct unity; an understating, of who and what we were --- all Airmen, all fighting the same wars, and all dealing with the common goal of flying, fighting, and winning --- no matter what. Whatever uniform we wore, it made no difference. The hours we spent together were grueling, our bosses wore the same temperament, and the demands for our Air Force Secretary were not different; we were seemingly blind to uniform and hair styles, not standardized.

"We endure the work together," one of my former colleagues said one night...now a Brigadier General at a Major Command, we remain close friends, as we once fought the battle together to win the fight, irrespective of the color of suit we wore.

My new assignment, as Director of Staff of the 60thAir Mobility Wing, has blessed me with an enormous amount of humbling endeavors. In five months, I have experienced the truest of Air Force capability, ranging from keen mobility and Intel ops to the arduous duties handled by our Maintenance troops, as well as our Public affairs office; to our fantastic Airman and Family Readiness Center competencies to our Finance troops battling with supply and demand to find balance in customer service.

All of this would be nonexistent if it weren't for the Comprehensive Airmen--total force, who conduct, produce and operate. With all of these capabilities and too many more to cite, I sadly see a "disconnect" amongst our Airmen at Travis, as it pertains to the absolute understanding of the "Comprehensive Airmen" culture -- the culture where civilian and military Airmen are wholly integrated and grasped -- inside and out.

On the onset of diagnosing this obvious predicament, our "blue suitors," military members, are seemingly not fully aware of the total force concept, I reminisced about in the previous thought.
 
Yes, civilians abide by a different set of rules, regulations, time cards, and code of conduct, but needless to say, are fully engaged in fighting the same war, and supporting that war completely.

Civilians, on the other hand, seem to be struggling, equally, with this concept. As perceived, I've noticed civilians not participating in the union-ship so desperately needed to unveil a complex construct such as CAF.

I've found many of our Travis military and civilian airmen not embracing each other's capabilities to master that true unification, so desperately needed with the workload pushed forward on our Air Force base.

Our mission will not change, and higher Headquarters will continue to find means to cultivate the "healthy airman," but I plea --- without a true acceptance and understanding of our "Comprehensive Airmen"--civilians and military, alike, we'll remain segregated in the potential, and thus, hamper the overall welfare of our force, as we seek to fulfill the tedious objectives at hand.

A means of breaking this dichotomy is abiding by the same standards. While this is difficult for legal and regulatory reasons, I opt to challenge our Travis civilians in truly embracing the standards laid upon our blue suitors.

One example is accepting and enveloping the safety regulations enforced. We have a zero tolerance for drinking under the influence, and while I sit in our weekly wing-level meetings and see our metrics untouched by a civilian DUI vice military, I question, why the double standard? If we are all Airmen, we should support the same construct, and if we are truly to embrace CAF, we must go the extra mile to make that happen.

Similarly, we have a physical component so dire to the health of our force, and as our blue suitors continue to take on the challenges pushed forward with the new regiment, civilians may equally, take on that challenge --- meet your fellow colleagues out at a Physical Training session, and try to achieve the same physical balance deemed prudent by our leaders.
 
We are a total force and we share the same goals and vision. If the four pillars of CAF depict anything, they say quite loudly a means to fulfilling the needs of today's Airmen. To me, this Airman is also comprehensive, and he and she are both military and civilian.

We have learned civilian Airmen are the "continuity" as our military Airmen are frequently deployed, and to maintain the "home base," civilians have been propositioned to handle the task at hand.
 
As the Department of Defense continues to measure ways to "deploy" civilians, it is our duty to support our fellow blue-suitors as they fight the wars abroad in dangerous and rogue regions.

We all take the same oaths as our "uniformed" brothers and sisters, but this must be translated down to the lowest level of operations. We must do as we petition, and petition as we do.

As one mean to fulfill the CAF construct, I urge the growing and nurturing of the comprehensive Airmen. Let's fight this war together, wholly and without discrimination; comprehensively, if you will.