Commander's Corner

  • Published
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.

QUESTION
Jennifer Flecker - Sir, have you heard about the chiefs retention board,
and how do you this will impact the AF?
 
Brig. Gen. Glen VanHerck
Brig. Gen. Glen VanHerck		   RESPONSE

Jennifer - As you may have seen in the SECAF's announcement this past week, and in the message posted to the Dyess Facebook page and website, several programs have been announced and potential more will be in the coming weeks. The programs are designed to reduce the force by as many as 25,000 Airmen - officer, enlisted and civilian - in order to meet budget reduction requirements. The Air Force plans to use a combination of voluntary and involuntary programs to size and shape the force, with focus on retaining our highest quality, highest performing Airmen. The Chief Master Sergeant retention board is one such program that will be used - while the other services have successfully executed similar programs for years, a chief's retention board is new for the AF, which I know will understandably create anxiety for many of our Airmen. For those who are unfamiliar, a chief retention board includes two phases. In phase one, chiefs in specific career fields may apply for voluntary retirement in lieu of meeting a retention board. Chiefs with 20 years of active federal military service from identified over-manned career fields, or those with negative indicators, who do not apply for retirement before March 15, 2014 will be considered by the board during the second phase. In terms of how this will impact the AF - the AF, of course, recognizes the invaluable contributions of our chief master sergeants - these folks are proven leaders, representing the highest level of enlisted leadership - but the AF must shape the future force today given current budget restrictions constraints, and this means making reductions in personnel. However, rest assured, AF leaders are committed to sustaining excellence while meeting fiscal requirements. The specific career fields that will be affected by these force management programs haven't been announced, but I encourage anyone who believes they may be impacted by the Chief Master Sergeant retention board, any of the potential retention boards, to do their homework now - become familiar with the process and the eligibility criteria by visiting the MyPers website and entering "Chief Retention" in the search window. The Air Force is making this announcement now for that very reason - so that Airmen have time to make plans for their futures. Thanks for your question, Jennifer.
 
QUESTION
Nathan Peace - Gen. VanHerck- I've always been curious... What are the 5
big generators used for on the north side of base by Military Dr.?
 
Brig. Gen. Glen VanHerck
Brig. Gen. Glen VanHerck		   RESPONSE

Nathan - The generators have a dual purpose. First, they allow backup capability during commercial electrical outages. For example, last spring Dyess experienced a bad storm and lost commercial power for 12 hours. The generators were utilized to keep critical systems functioning. Second, the generators allow us to reduce the load on the Texas electrical grid during times of peak usage, such as during the summer when air conditioners are running on high. Thanks for your question and your curiosity, Nathan!
 
QUESTION
Candelyn Carey - Who will be your replacement sir?
 
Brig. Gen. Glen VanHerck
Brig. Gen. Glen VanHerck		   RESPONSE

Candelyn - I hope you're not trying to get rid of me! All kidding aside, a decision on who the next 7th Bomb Wing commander will be hasn't been announced yet. However, I expect that the announcement will occur this week - but whoever it is, I'm confident the Air Force is will select the right person to continue to lead Team Dyess and this premiere AF base. The people here - the Airmen, families, and supporters in the local community - are what have made this such a fantastic job, and it will certainly be difficult to give up command of such a great team. It has been my distinct pleasure to work with you all, and to serve as your commander - and I look forward to hearing about the continued success of Team Dyess well after I am gone.
 
QUESTION
Theresa Lane Gauche - Is it true that there is a plan to begin closing
commissaries?
 
Brig. Gen. Glen VanHerck
Brig. Gen. Glen VanHerck		   RESPONSE

Theresa - thanks for your question and for continuing to use the Commander's Corner. As you know, commissaries are a huge military family support element, and a valued part of military pay and benefits. Unfortunately, at this time - I can't speculate as to how current or future fiscal constraints and continued budgetary uncertainty may affect the commissaries. I can tell you that many of the programs, resources and benefits that we as a military community have become accustomed to have been and will continue to be threatened by the harsh fiscal reality that we are faced with - and this reality isn't exclusive to the military - organizations all across our nation are tightening their purse strings in order to operate in the current fiscal environment. To my knowledge, the Defense Commissary Agency (DeCA) has not announced plans to begin closing commissaries - but any such release would be found on their website at http://www.commissaries.com/. We will be certain to keep you updated using the Dyess website and Facebook page should there be any plans to make changes to the Dyess commissary hours of operations. Thanks again, Teresa.
 
QUESTION
Richard Jablonski - As an Air Force veteran myself from the 70s our son
has lung damage from the burn pits in Afghanistan and on a not eligible to
reenlist or PCS due to the ratings. How will this effect him in your
Security Forces? Hopefully you will not have him sent on a deployment had
him injured and then just throw him away because of his injuries and have to
fight with the VA to get anything at all.
 
Brig. Gen. Glen VanHerck
Brig. Gen. Glen VanHerck		   RESPONSE

Richard - Thank you, Mr. Jablonski, for sharing this with me. I have the utmost respect for our young Airmen, as they have volunteered to serve their country in a time of war and have risen to the challenge of leading in a particularly-challenging fiscal environment. I know that this announcement has caused a lot of concern for our Airmen and their families - there are still a lot of unknowns, and I am committed to keeping the members of Team Dyess informed as more information becomes available. As Col.Beasley, my vice commander, explained in his message posted to the Facebook page on Friday - the AF will do everything it can to maximize voluntary programs first, including offering monetary separation incentives. Unfortunately, it is likely that involuntary programs will also have to be used to meet projected manpower requirements - but I can promise you, any Airman here at Dyess that is forced to retire or separate will not just be thrown away. That's why that AF has announced FY14 Force Management Program initiatives now - to give our Airmen time to plan for their futures. Enlisted members will be given six months advanced notice of when retention boards will meet, and both commanders and members will have a voice in the process. Members be able to submit letters or memos to their retention boards - and members selected for retirement/separation will have the right to appeal. Nevertheless, there will be Airmen who must leave the AF as a result of these personnel reductions - and in those cases, we will do our best to prepare those Airmen selected for a career outside of the Air Force and ensure those with medical claims such as your sons' are handled responsibly. I know there are a lot of frustrations and questions about the future, but I can promise you my leadership team and I will do all we can to serve our Airmen best during these tough times. I appreciate your concern, and thank you for your question.
 
QUESTION
Justin Cardenas - With the Air Force looking to cut another 25,000
people, when is this all going to start happening for example when will we
start to see people leaving the Air Force and who is in the most danger of
leavening would it be a lot of new airman or NCOs or even SNCOs and
Officers. Thanks for reading this and have a great day and a Happy Holiday.
 
Brig. Gen. Glen VanHerck
Brig. Gen. Glen VanHerck		   RESPONSE

Justin - Certainly, there are a lot of questions and concerns surrounding the AF's announcement yesterday regarding the Fiscal Year 2014 Force Management Program. It is my priority to keep our Airmen fully informed on this issue, and I will be holding a series of commander's calls next week so that I can answer more questions and provide more clarity to the members of Team Dyess. As for your specific questions - details on which career fields, ranks, and year groups will be impacted by FY14 Force Management programs have not been announced. Once specific details are available, AFPC will notify Airmen via official personnel messages and we will post public news releases on the Dyess website and Facebook page. At that time, Airmen will also be able to visit MyPers at https://mypers.af.mil to read their personnel messages and guidance on eligibility and applications. Specific career fields will be determined based on overages, but please rest assured that retention boards, for both officers and enlisted, will be charged with selecting high-performing Airmen for retention across multiple AFSCs. Again, it is difficult for me to speculate on how this overall force reduction will affect us here at Dyess, so it's hard for me to give you a timeline, but we have been told that members who meet an involuntary board and are selected for separation/retirement will have approximately four months to prepare before leaving the AF - which is why I can't reiterate enough the importance of Airmen becoming educated on how they individually may be impacted and determining what the best options are for them and their families so that they may plan for their futures. I'm happy to see that you've taken an active interest in learning about this process, Justin - thanks for your question.