There is “no lack of morale, trust me” among rank-and-file airmen, especially those deployed to Afghanistan, chief of staff Gen. Norton A. Schwartz reported Friday. At a Brookings Institute program in Washington,. Schwartz said the deployed airmen are “fully invested” in their mission in Afghanistan, where Schwartz recently visited, and as long as they are properly trained and their families are taken care of in their absence, morale won’t be an issue. “Are we catering to families? Yes, we are,” Schwartz acknowledged, but the attention on family support grew out of listening to what motivates most airmen. “If we don’t listen, we’ll have a hard time keeping them,” he explained. He also advised straight talk. Today’s airmen will accept any mission “if we don’t bullshit them,” Schwartz said. “I think they sniff that stuff out better than their grandparents did.”
Airmen and Guardians in the Active and Reserve component, as well as civilian employees, in “mission critical and high-risk populations” are now required to receive influenza vaccinations annually to “preserve force readiness,” according to a recent Department of the Air Force memo.