The partial predictability of war – in the cycle

  • Published
  • By Tech. Sgt Collen McGee
  • 433rd Airlift Wing
LACKLAND AIR FORCE BASE, Texas --  This is the first in a series of articles highlighting different careers and Alamo Wing people as they perform their duty under the Air and Space Expeditionary Force concept. In this series you will hear from different perspectives about the adaptation to deployed life and how the job compares to work at home station.
Nearly 100 members of the 433rd Airlift Wing departed last month for various locations throughout the U.S. Central Command Area of Responsibility. They are part of the Air and Space Expeditionary Force structure and they knew they were going to war.
The AEF manages its people and equipment in a way that gives them a little predictability. For Reserve units like the Alamo Wing, it helps plan ahead when it comes to deployments.
Because of the cycling of AEF deployments, Reservists have a much better idea of when they will deploy and for how long. They have answers to some tough questions for their civilian bosses and their families.
“I volunteered last December for deployment in May,” said Senior Master Sgt. Kathleen Null, 433rd Personnel superintendent, from her deployed location at Sather AB, Baghdad, Iraq. Sergeant Null is the superintendent of Personnel Support for Contingency Operations, at Sather.
For many who deploy, the duties are the same no matter where they go. For the personnel specialists there are some marked differences.
“On deployments, we provide service to active-duty members on their personnel programs and we maintain strength accountability,” said Sergeant Null.
Those deployed to joint operating locations have even more of a difference in duties.
“Learning a new organizational structure is a challenge,” writes Sergeant Null. But learning another rank system and all the service specific jargon to the level of difficulty.
“We don’t just maintain information for Sather AB but for Camp Victory which has a lot of Joint Service positions,” said Sergeant Null. “Learning Army, Navy and Marine lingo and rank isn’t easy.”
Learning isn’t something that stops once a deployment is over. Sergeant Null is on her second deployment and knows the experience she gains will increase the corporate knowledge available to those back at home.
“I teach the PERSCO course for Air Force Reserve Command and felt I needed more and updated deployment experience for teaching a course on deploying in this field,” said Sergeant Null.
She also uses the deployment as a chance to brag about the Air Force Reserve.
“I use it (deployment) as an opportunity to spread the word about being a Reservist to active duty. I think I have recruited 2 members already,” said Sergeant Null.
One of the benefits of Reserve duty is the relative predictability for deployments.
“We knew we had the deployment in January so we had plenty of time to prepare,” said Sergeant Null.
Another bonus is in the flexibility of using an all volunteer system.
“The way that AFRC does the buys (for deployments) is great,” said Sergeant Null. “You may not always get what you ask for but you don’t get stuck with something you didn’t ask for.”
And as for those tough questions, the two most often asked questions are; When are you leaving? And, when are you coming back?
Most AEF tours of duty last 120 days plus a few days on each end for travel. Folks know in advance if they are going because they volunteered and most have time to get their world as ordered as possible before departure. Some rotations, depending on mission requirements, are able to be split into two 60-day cycles in order to offer more flexibility.