The Air Force has received 1,888 enlisted volunteer to retrain into 31 critical skill career fields, filling all empty slots for 96 percent of fields such as pararescue, in-flight refueling, aerial gunner, and combat control, according to an Aug. 26 Air Force Personnel Center release. The number included 315 airmen who were exceptions to policy, in that they may have been a different rank than targeted for retraining, were not selected for the new field, or other exceptions. The AFPC retraining team has boosted the number of retraining volunteers for critical fields, such as combat controllers, which jumped from 17 a few years ago to 53 for this year’s program, said CMSgt. Ralph Humphrey, Air Education and Training Command’s functional area manager for combat control. Another was explosive ordnance disposal. According to CMSgt. Christine Williams, AFPC’s enlisted skills management branch chief, the retraining team found 55 volunteers by reviewing old lists of previous volunteers and making personal calls to them.
Members of the House Armed Services Committee say the AIM-260 Joint Advanced Tactical Missile program has been set back three months due to the ongoing government shutdown. The comment is noteworthy because the JATM's status has been kept tightly under wraps.
