Air Force Personnel Center commander addresses retention, recruiting

POPE AFB, N.C. (USTCNS) --- Maj. Gen. Richard E. "Tex" Brown III, commander of Air Force Personnel Center at Randolph AFB, Texas, visited here Jan. 23 and 24 to discuss personnel-related issues affecting the entire Air Force.

During the two-day visit, Brown provided briefings to specific audiences including senior NCOs, group and squadron commanders, military personnel flight members, and a mass briefing. Topics during each briefing ranged from retention and promotions to the recruiter selection process and the virtual MPF.

Brown said the No. 1 issue facing the Air Force, which the personnel community can impact, is retention.

"I firmly believe the personnel system, especially the assignment part of the personnel system, can and does have a great effect on the retention of our people," Brown said. "That doesn't really mean giving everybody the assignment they want," Brown explained, "but a lot of it has to do with how we treat folks - how we come across to them."

When he took command of AFPC in January 2000, Brown said he challenged the center to put the word "personal" into "personnel."

"We can still meet the needs of the Air Force, but we must let people know we listen and care about their personal needs. We will try as best we can to meet or match their concerns with the needs of the Air Force," Brown said.

This has been increasingly difficult however, due to the shortage of manning. Hand in hand with retention, recruiting is another personnel-related challenge that affects us all, according to Brown. "All of us in the Air Force need to be concerned about recruiting," said Brown.

The current recruiter selection process, which was initiated to bring the total number of recruiters to 1,650 by December 2001, impacts every base, according to Brown.

"We have identified a very large pool of candidates across our whole Air Force who could be recruiters," Brown said. That number is approximately 17,000 people, and Brown said he predicts that approximately 14,000 of those identified will be recommended by their commanders as good candidates.

Originally, the Air Force needed to find 400 recruiters to meet the goal of 1,650 total recruiters. However, only 200 to 250 are now needed due to the amount of volunteers received since the program began. Brown said he is optimistic the goal will be met with volunteers.

Many incentives exist to attract people to recruiting, according to Brown, including $375 per month special-duty pay, and a new recruiting ribbon worth two points for promotion under the Weighted Airman Promotion System. Recruiting officials are also trying to end the perception that recruiting is a "career killer," because individuals receive low Enlisted Performance Reports for not meeting quotas, Brown said.

"Your EPR will be based on how hard you worked, not whether you met a quota or not," Brown said.

Brown said Air Mobility Command's Year of Retention and Recruiting fits hand-in-hand with what he believes are the biggest concerns we have today in the Air Force.

"I'm not so sure it shouldn't be the Air Force's slogan and goal. I salute the fact that AMC has just flat put the mark on on the wall that this is the Year of Retention and Recruiting." (FROM AIR MOBILITY COMMAND PUBLIC AFFAIRS).