Commander's Corner

Published Jan. 7, 2014

DYESS AIR FORCE BASE, Texas -- The Commander's Corner is a forum for the Dyess community to make suggestions or voice concerns about Dyess directly to Brig. Gen. Glen VanHerck, 7th Bomb Wing commander. Each week the Dyess Public Affairs office solicits questions via the official Dyess Facebook page, offering people an opportunity to ask questions and receive answers directly from the wing commander.

COMMENT
Mary Gallman - Merry Christmas!

Brig. Gen. Glen VanHerck

RESPONSE

Mary - Thank you and Happy Holidays to you! I hope your new year is off
to a fantastic start. As always, I appreciate the well-wishes and thank you
for your support of Team Dyess.

COMMENT
LeeAnn Tessier - I don't have a question just a thank you. My son
will be coming to Dyess in the next month or so. I can not wait. Although it
is still a 14 hour drive from home it sure beats the 13 hour flight I had to
Yokota. Just glad to have him home and have this outlet for information we
may need. Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays for all of you.

Brig. Gen. Glen VanHerck

RESPONSE

LeeAnn - Thank you for your kindness - it's heartwarming to see the
interest you've taken in your son's life and career - by connecting with us
here at Dyess and even traveling to another continent to visit him. I
encourage you to visit him at Dyess once he arrives - Abilene is a fantastic
community and the team here at Dyess boasts some of the best and brightest
Airmen in the world. I believe your son will enjoy his assignment here - and
I am absolutely certain his supervision and the members of his command will
ensure he's being taken care of. Hopefully having him a little closer to
home brings you comfort - as the father of a teenaged daughter who is
away at college, I know how it can be difficult to be away from your child.
Thank you for your comment - I wish you the happiest of New Years!

COMMENT
Richard Jablonski - I have to agree that you do take the time to
answer most if not all questions and as a parent of a Dyess Airman
I appreciate it.

Brig. Gen. Glen VanHerck

RESPONSE

Richard - I am thrilled that this forum has allowed my leadership team
and I to be more transparent with - not only the men and women of Team Dyess
- but their loved ones as well. And while I enjoy educating folks by
answering their questions posted on the Commander's Corner - the comments
and the feedback I get on here are what have really enabled me to make
changes that have improved the quality of life for our Airmen and families.
Richard, I must be honest...I have a lot of help that makes the Commanders
Corner possible and what it is. My Public Affairs staff is absolutely
phenomenal. They do a lot of the leg work to make this forum successful. It
takes a team to be successful and I am truly blessed to be Captain of Team
Dyess. So I want to thank you sincerely for your participation - I wish both
you and your son a Happy New Year!

QUESTION
Jennifer Flecker - Commander's Corner Question, With the Force Management
programs out, and retraining suspended has there been any word relating to
prior cross-trainees? Specifically if there is a cross-trainee in a
career-field which is considered overmanned, will they be allowed or
considered for returning to their previous career-field? Thanks for always
trying educate us Airmen on this critical phase of transition the AF is
going through!

Brig. Gen. Glen VanHerck

RESPONSE

Jennifer - That's a great question, and I am pleased to see that you -
like many of our Airmen who could potentially be impacted by the FY14 Force
Management Program initiatives - have taken an active role in the process by
asking questions and learning what options may be available to you. Inanswer
to your question - if a member is set to meet a retention board, they will
not have the option of returning to a previous AFSC prior to the board
- there is no standard option to retrain in-lieu of meeting the board.
However, if the member is retained by the board, he or she could apply to
retrain and return to their previous AFSC through the normal process, but
varying factors would still have to line up - the member's current AFSC
would still have to be considered over manned and their previous AFSC would
still have to be considered undermanned. Obviously, the opportunities
available to the Airmen who are ultimately selected for a force-management
separation will vary from person to person, but I want to highlight one
opportunity that some may have - which is to continue their service in
either the AF Reserve or the National Guard. I encourage you to research
this and the other options that are available to you personally. And if you
have further questions - my leadership and I are standing by to assist.
Thanks for your interest, Jennifer.

QUESTION
Nathan Peace - Sir, what is stopping the 7 MXG from using WIFI on our
ETools while working on/in a/c, hangars and work centers? We could use them
to do forms IMDS, parts research, parts ordering, turnover, emails and more
all on the spot vs. returning to our shop... This seems much more efficient
to me.

Brig. Gen. Glen VanHerck

RESPONSE

Nathan - This is a great question that touches on several items I
discussed in my commentary posted to the Dyess website and Facebook earlier
today - I encourage you to take a look. In it I ask that Airmen at all
levels of leadership to begin identifying inefficiencies in their workplaces
and offering their innovative ideas on new ways of doing business. I am
always open to suggestions that will help us maximize our available
resources - in the current fiscal environment, there has never been a better
time for creative solutions. To be honest, I was under the impression that
WIFI was being utilized on the flight line and in associated facilities. I
would like to provide you with this capability, and from what I understand
after speaking with our Maintenance and Comm experts, wireless capability
does exist on the flight line however, it is spotty in a few areas which has
prevented the full integration of this capability. I am grateful that you
have brought this to my attention but also disappointed that I was not aware
of any challenges to having a fully functional WIFI system or the need to
procure additional equipment to make this system functional to aid in the
generation and maintenance Dominant Airpower. I have this for action and
if/when resources are available, I will ensure that we get this LIMFAC
solved, sooner than later! These are just the kinds of ideas we're
interested in hearing. Thanks for the question.