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Second Air Force expands, reorganizes

  • Published
  • 81 Training Wing Public Affairs
KEESLER AIR FORCE BASE, Miss. --  Second Air Force has expanded its mission and reorganized its operating structure to mirror an air and space operations center. 

Second Air Force is responsible for the execution of basic military and technical training in Air Education and Training Command, which produces more than 200,000 graduates each year. Due to the realignment of some training processes Maj. Gen. Mike Gould, 2nd Air Force commander, directed the reorganization of his headquarters staff to align with the Air Force's command and control enabling concept of a warfighting headquarters. 

"I tasked a team of my training experts to draw parallels from the AOC model, and develop the framework for a training operations center here at 2nd Air Force," General Gould said. 

The general Gould chose Jamie Correll, chief of current operations; Curtis Greer, chief of resources and budget; and Jerry Bartosik, qualitative branch chief of production operations, to lead the 20-member reorganization team. 

Prior to this transformational effort, no single commander had control over the entire process, said Mr. Greer. 

"The numbered Air Force didn't have command and control of the operational training processes," he said. "We had pieces of it here, but most processes were actually up at our major command."

As a result, the process of getting the right Airmen with the right skills at the right time was fragmented and inefficient at times, with all the entities declaring success, Mr. Greer said.

"The major command mission was to organize, train and equip, and they did that. Air Force Recruiting Service's responsibility was to go out and bring in the young men and women into the Air Force, and they did that. We told our training wings to train these folks, and they did that," he said.   "But at the end of the day, we didn't always have what the Air Force needed as an institution, despite the fact that everyone met their goal. It was clear that we needed centralized command and control of key training processes." 

As team members studied more about the AOC, with the help of the Air Force Warfare Center's AOC schoolhouse at Hurlburt Field, Fla., they found obvious parallels which could be implemented in a TOC. Adapting the AOC model allows for more effective and efficient command and control of the training process, Ms. Correll said. 

"One of the simplest parallels for a 2nd Air Force TOC comes from examining the process where the AOC, which is at the operational level, plans and executes the air tasking order," she said. 

For example, she explained, a commander can effectively put bombs on target if he or she has command and control of all aspects of the air campaign. Part of being able to do that consistently and accurately requires the ability to analyze the mission's failures and successes, redirect assets and make necessary process improvements in a timely manner. 

"An AOC can do this because the players all report to one boss, and they own everything involved in conducting the mission," Mr. Bartosik said. "One of the reorganization team's goals was to structure the training process in a similar way, where it will be operated by the 2nd Air Force TOC, centralized under a single commander." 

"I am extremely proud of the work this team did," General Gould said. "With the help of Headquarters AETC leadership and staff, together they assessed the facts and devised a plan to implement a TOC that will take our training operations to the next level. 

"We need the ability to bring in a new recruit, get him or her through basic military training and into the right technical training class seat, and then to their operational commander in the most effective and efficient manner," he said. "I now have a TOC that gives me visibility into the entire pipeline process and enables me to make real-time, informed decisions on the execution of that mission. 

"Now, more than ever, we simply can't afford to be inefficient in how we train our Air Force's Airmen," General Gould said. "Implementing this TOC is the right next step to ensure we make the most of the resources we are entrusted with to sustain the Air Force with the world's best trained, combat ready Airmen -- above all."