Chiefs Weigh in on Op-Tempo

Roughly 10 percent of the Air Force’s 70,000 Reservists are on active duty today, said CMSgt. Dwight Dale Badgett, command chief for Air Force Reserve Command, during a panel discussion Monday at AFA’s Air & Space Conference. About 25 percent of US Air Forces in Europe airmen are deployed every day, and about 10 to 15 percent of Air Force Global Strike Command airmen are forward deployed to US Central Command, while AFGSC B-52 forces maintain a continual presence in Guam. All the chiefs praised their airmen for stepping up to the plate, but some said the high operational tempo has been challenging. “I’m a little concerned with some of the deployment-to-dwell time periods,” said Air Combat Command’s CMSgt. Martin Klukas. The Air Force has just announced a change to the expeditionary baseline from 120 to 179 days for the active component. Klukas said that change should go a long way to alleviating some of the stress on airmen and their families.