- Roger, 4807. Approaching Runway 7 Bravo - The Air Force has announced the creation of a new information operations technical training school. - The First Command simply must arm our airmen to out-think, out-perform, out-partner, out-innovate any potential adversary. - Air Force basic military training has an updated curriculum with a new focus on readiness and lethality. - The First Command, "The Air Force Starts Here". - Hey, everybody. Welcome into "The Air Force Starts Here" podcast and thanks for the subscribe, stream, or download, however you might be listening in. If you get a chance to throw some stars or even a review, we certainly would appreciate that. So, thanks for tuning in. And my name is Dan Hawkins from the Air Education and Training Command public affairs office and your host for this professional development podcast dedicated to bringing Total Force Big A Airmen, insight, tips, tricks and lessons learned from the field in the recruiting, training and education world. Great podcast today. As we navigate this fight against COVID-19, the Air Force, which of course includes us here in AETC, have been forced to rapidly evolve the way we're doing business to account for things such as physical distancing and other CDC health protection guidelines. And while at the same time balance our mission of recruiting, training, and educating exceptional airmen. And never more clear to me as today as I was trying to record the podcast and trying to do it virtually from my home office here with my family here and trying to navigate daily life and other telecoms from my spouse and everything else. It's never been more clear that we've got a lot of challenges here and our Air Force Recruiting Service is a big part of that because to get to the point where we can train and educate exceptional airmen, we first have to be able to recruit them. And accessioning these new airmen into the Force and bringing them to basic military training is definitely no exception. And we've had to reinvent, in some ways, how we've done business normally and not only have we had to reinvent it, but we've had to reinvent it on an almost daily, weekly basis as the response to this global pandemic has changed, as more becomes known about COVID-19. So on the pod today, we're going to talk with two senior NCOs from the Air Force Recruiting Service, Master Sergeant Dana Bazile, an Operations Flight Chief with the 360th Recruiting Group, and Master Sergeant Ernest Coleman who is an Enlisted Accessions Flight Chief in the 369th Recruiting Squadron, about life in the virtual recruiting world and how they're using technology more than ever to work with these new accessions. These two veteran recruiters also talk about the efforts being made to do agile shipping which is the Air Force Recruiting Services' ability to balance the mission, the build, and maintain the strength of the Air Force with the need for individual and public safety. And, of course, as many of us know who are also doing a lot of virtual and tele-work, there's some challenges when working in that environment. AFRS is no different. So we'll get into a few of those challenges as well as how the shipping schedule has been reshuffled in some degrees as recruits come into BMT in different ways through the military entrance process stations and how that process is looking as well as how recruits who are interested in joining the Air Force right now can get in touch with a recruiter. So away we go with episode 28 of "The Air Force Starts Here". It kicks off right now. So Sergeant Bazile, tell us a little bit about yourself. - Hi there, Mr. Hawkins. First of all, thanks for having me. I am Master Sergeant Dana Bazile. I joined the Air Force in May of 2002. So next month will make 18 years for me in the United States Air Force. I started off as an AWACS radar technician out at Tinker Air Force Base in Oklahoma. And then I spent about four years out of the Air Force on (indistinct) in Washington, DC until I then transitioned into recruiting in 2010. I've now been in recruiting service for nine years, for 10 years. I started off, of course, as a recruiter in Yonkers, New York. I was a Flight Chief down in Brooklyn, New York and now I am the Operations Flight Chief for the 360th Recruiting Group - And Sergeant Coleman, what about you? How long have you been in Air Force Recruiting? - I came into the Air Force back in 2001. So I've been in about 19 years now. I started off in Traffic Management out at Aviano. I moved from there to Accord, did some time in Mildenhall and then Luke and then I came into recruiting. Been in recruiting since 2010, started off at Wausau, Wisconsin as a recruiter, went to MEPS in Phoenix, Arizona, and now a flight chief out in Brea, California. - Well, obviously a lot of experience. And, so, you guys really are in a great position to talk about this really unprecedented response to COVID-19 and how the Air Force Recruiting Service has had to pivot to make sure that we can continue to balance the Air Force's in strength and manning needs during this really worldwide response to the global pandemic. But Sergeant Bazile, I'll start with you. What exactly does virtual recruiting and agile shipping entail? - Well, agile shipping is basically Air Force Recruiting Services' rapid adjustment capabilities for processing and getting new recruits to basic training through various modes of transportation. And sometimes we have to be flexible to use a different method than we initially attended intended to. We have to consistently balance our need to build and maintain the strength of the Air Force along with the need for individual and public safety. And we have to rapidly adjust as necessary to the changes that occur on a daily basis. You know, this is nothing new for us in a general idea as far as being agile. We're used to having routine issues with recruits, whether it be a medical issue, a disqualifying factor, something, you know, a flight change. Those things happen from time to time. This is on an extremely exponential level at this point. So, we have to use what we've already had in practice as part by being agile, and then step it up several notches. You know, based on what's going on through this pandemic, we're seeing several flight cancellations from multiple airports, and as well as issues with applicants. We have to screen them thoroughly to make sure that, you know, they are well, and they haven't been in contact with anyone that, you know, could have made them sick. So we just have to be very flexible. And this is at all levels, from the highest level of leadership to every individual recruiter. We have to constantly assess the circumstances in front of us and make the best possible decisions in order to, again, ensure we're doing what the mission requires as far as building the Air Force, but being very mindful of the safety measures we need to employ. And then virtual recruiting is basically how we're doing business at this time. We don't have the ability to lean on our traditional methods of meeting face-to-face, having interviews with an applicant sitting across from us at the table. We have to use different types of technology. But again, we're just moving at an accelerated pace in a direction where we were already going. We had already begun using lots of digital media, digital marketing, different things to be smarter, you know, in our recruiting capabilities. But now, whereas before a recruiter would have certain things as options, now they're required to be innovative and to utilize those digital platforms. - And Sergeant Coleman, how does that look from the recruiter that's actually out there on the pointy end of the stick and at our recruiting offices that are no longer open? How are they transitioning to this new normal? - So, as far as lead generation, Sergeant Bazile already kind of talked about this, using social media as maybe a platform to reach new leads. We're not doing all the things that we typically do. So for instance, we're not going out to school visits because all schools are closed. We're not able to do the dev calls and things of that nature to be able to prepare these kids for basic training in the same fashion that we once did. We're not doing those face-to-face contacts, those face-to-face appointments. So know what is looks like is having to do a lot more things over the phone. So we're seeing a lot of phone calls. We're doing a lot of FaceTime. Having to use digital platforms such as Zoom, or FaceTime, something like that, in order for us to be able to have these different types of appointments and be able to talk with our applicants. The communication is still there. It's just in a different format. - And, I think, though it is kind of a sign of the times, right? Like, you know, everybody always says the younger generation is much more technologically capable and they're just used to doing business that way. What have your recruiters seen from that perspective? And how has it helped make this transition from the way we've always done things, in many ways, from a recruiting perspective, in that face-to-face perspective? - Right, I think they're adjusting. Again, they were already using social media platforms. They were getting leads and being able to talk to people through Instagram and Facebook and all this nature. But before that was just a tool. Now that's become the primary method which people, in the way that they're talking. We're doing a lot of things just via text. So, again, it's now becoming the primary method in which our recruiters are able to kind of get in and get in there and communicate with our applicants and then communicate. - So, and this is really for either one of you, but, in essence, really, it feels like that it is a new way of doing business but it really hasn't hindered you in a lot of ways of recruiting the next batch of exceptional airmen. - Yeah. As you cited, the applicant pool that we're working with now, these 17, 18, 19, and 20 plus year olds, they're on social media, they're online, they're well versed in technology, and, you know, our recruiters, a lot of them, you know, staff tech sergeants are in their twenties, early thirties, they're able to adapt as well. So, there were quite a few that were already using these technologies and some more now that everyone has to get on board, but we're fairly impressed with how quickly everyone is adapting to these current circumstances. - And so what are some of the challenges, Sergeant Coleman, with doing it this way? I know there's a lot of ways that it's been beneficial, but have there been any real challenges? And if so, what are some of the things that you guys are doing to combat those challenges? - Well, I would say the biggest challenge is just not having that face-to-face contact. This is a people business and we like to be in front of people. We like to talk with them. We're talking about their career and their life. We want to be able to read their body language. We want to be able to see their eye contact and those non-verbal cues that doing things over the phone and doing things through FaceTime, sometimes you can't read all those cues and you can't have that interaction. And the same token, when we do appointments and we're face-to-face, sometimes they like to bring in Mom or Dad or bring in family members and friends and we can all sit there and communicate and have conversations. Now, most of our conversation is just with the applicant and we have to have follow-up conversations with mom or dad. So some of that information may be lost in translation. So, again, that is one of the biggest struggles that our recruiters would much rather be out here face-to-face but they know the safety aspects of that is, you know, we're not going to be able to do that at that time. So, they're just making the adjustments and making sure that they stay flexible. But we would love to be, you know, face-to-face and have that interaction. Same thing with lead generation. We're not able to go out to the schools and things of that nature. We're not able to go out to the malls and we're not out, be able to go to NASCAR events and marketing events and all these different places where applicants would be that we can kind of engage and interact with them and build influencers and be out in our communities. We're not able to do that at this point. So, just that aspect of having to solely rely on social media and all these different platforms, that's the biggest hindrance right now. - So, kind of transitioning a little bit to how the pipeline is moving towards BMT. Sergeant Bazile, I really wanted to ask, they reduced the numbers that are going to BMT right now to ensure that the CDC guidelines for physical distancing are in place and to make sure that we're following all the force health protection guidance, but, how are recruits now being prioritized? Because, you guys have had to do a pretty big reshuffle to make it all work. - Absolutely. You know, with everything you just listed, as far as those limiting factors that we have to combat, we do have to be very smart about who is selected to go down to basic training. First and foremost, we have to look at the numbers that we're able to to bring in, what can BMT handle, and then, who gets those seats? A lot has to do with that training pipeline. We need to ensure that, once we get someone to basic training, we're able to continue them onto technical training. And there are certain career fields that the training is merged with other branches and we need to ensure that we're selecting career fields, for the most part, that the Air Force controls that pipeline and we can be sure that we can turn these folks into qualified technicians in whatever field that they're in. And then, beyond that, we definitely want to prioritize who's been waiting the longest, specifically, those whose jobs were canceled. Let's say, we began making these adjustments March 31st. So, we're now filling next week and the week after. And so, they're looking at anyone that had to be canceled March 31st as much as possible, getting them out as quickly as possible. And, you know, we're also paying attention to the factors as far as the MEPS that we have, that we're working with the certain MEPS that are shut down because of positive COVID cases and things of that nature. So, we have to take that into account as well. We have some applicants that, ordinarily, we would want to ship. They meet the requirements, they've been waiting, but then we're limited based on the MEPS or inability to get flights out of certain airports. So, we're doing our best to circumvent those challenges but, ultimately, we want to make sure we can get these folks trained and that we're taking care of those that were pushed aside the longest time ago. - And so when it comes to the agile shipping piece, I know there's a lot that goes into it, but there's also medical screening at the MEPS. So, if someone shows up and maybe they're showing symptoms or they're not feeling well, can you kind of explain how that works and what could hold someone up, if they do make it to MEPS, from shipping out to BMT? - So, the first thing that I'll say, each MEPS is a little bit different. So, I want to make sure that we're clear on that. So, when I'm speaking, I'm talking specifically for like LA MEPS, which is a pretty big MEPS. So, right now, they have to go with two way safety checks, meaning that the night before they get ready to process, we send them to a location, a hotel facility, where they're actually going to get checked for their temperature and they're gonna through a series of different questions. We're going to ask, "Are you quarantined?", "Do you have a temperature?", "Have you been in contact with anyone who's had a case of COVID?", "Have you been staying six feet away?", "Have you been following all the proper guidelines that the CDC has set out?" And if they pass that, then they can continue on and process the next day. The next day, they'll go to MEPS and do the same exact checks just to make sure that we've covered all of our bases and that they don't have any temperature. Now, if they do have a temperature, then obviously we have to quarantine them in separate or and separate them and then we'll go from there. But, again, we're trying to go through these checks to make sure that we are covering all of our bases and following the CDC Guidelines. Additionally, I'm going to say at this point, the MEPS, too, what they've really done is cut down the amount of people that we could push through the MEPS. So, before, let's say, for example, we might've been able to process 10 applicants a day. Now, we've kind of cut that down to maybe 6 applicants a day. Before parents and friends will be able to come and watch their significant others or their family members or friends go ahead and swear in and enlist. Now we have to do that online through FaceTime or IG Live or something like that. So, there are different platforms where people can now watch their loved ones go ahead and swear in but they cannot come to the MEPS facility anymore. So, they are taking a lot of different proper precautions and things of that nature. And the recruiters are doing a really, really good job with explaining this information to the applicants and the applicants know that these types of circumstances could be frustrating, but at the end of the day they know it's for their safety. - And everything that Sergeant Coleman's describing aligns with what we're doing out in 360. We're on the East Coast, you know, down from North Carolina, up through Michigan, and also Massachusetts. So, our whole area is operating very similarly. Of course, we have New York city included in our area of responsibility. So that's, you know, a particularly hot zone that, you know, but what we're seeing is we're taking no risk. You know, in the past, there might be someone who has a medical issue and, you know, we'll send it up to the Air Force Sergeant General to see if something can get approved. When it comes to COVID-19, there's nothing like that. You have a fever, you know, that's beyond 100.4, you're not shipping. You've been in contact with someone who is potentially positive or showing symptoms, you're not shipping. We're not taking any unnecessary risk that we've already identified. - Yeah, and those are all great points. And I appreciate you really expounding on those because I think, you know, obviously a lot of new recruits and their loved ones are probably very curious about that. I also kind of wanted to talk about, you know, hopefully, as the stats level out and we flatten the curve here on the COVID-19 pandemic across, not only our country but the world, you know, and we transition back to a little bit more of what we're used to, although, I don't know that we'll ever go back to the way we were, but, what are your thoughts, from an Air Force Recruiting Service perspective, on how you transition and take the lessons that you learned on how to communicate during this pandemic and do your mission of recruiting exceptional airmen? What will you take virtually back and continue to use even after we transitioned back to somewhat normal operations? - Of course, we never want to see a situation like this arise. This is such a worst case scenario in so many different ways. However, when you are faced with circumstances that are so unprecedented, you always have the opportunity to learn something from it and do better moving forward. What I've noticed is a much higher level of cross feed collaboration. There's so many ideas that these recruiters and people at different levels in marketing and training have that they're sharing at such an elevated level. So, we're going to come out of this a lot smarter and realizing how there are some ways that we can streamline our processes as well as being smarter with the technology that we use. There's a program called the Air Force Commission and Enlistment Portal that I would have loved to have as a recruiter. And it's something that we'd heard about. It was being worked on. And it's a way for applicants to input their data in themselves online and it just transfers over into our system. And that's something that's coming up the line. We're doing Zoom meetings this week so everyone can learn how it operates. So, it's accelerating the progression of our technological resources. And so, those things we'll continue to use and we'll use some at a higher level and we'll see, once this is all over, you know, what we were able to accomplish in a way that, with all of the processes we had before, maybe there were some things that were bogging down our day or costing man hours unnecessarily. So, there's definitely some technological resources, as well as some process improvements and adjustments that we'll continue to utilize moving forward. - And Sergeant Coleman, I wanted to talk about something and I've seen it on social media, to some degree, and, probably, most of the kinks are being worked out. But, if you are a recruiter, you're interested in joining the Air Force right now, we'd still love to be able to talk to you. And how can recruits or potential recruits get in touch with a recruiter virtually if they just don't even know where to start? - The first place to start is airforce.com. If you go to airforce.com, and you put in your information, meaning your zip code, whether you're a high school grad or if you're still in high school, then a recruiter's information will come up. What most of the recruiters have done as well is they went ahead and put their cell phone information on Google. So if you're in any city and you go in and you Google your nearest recruiter, their cell phone information is going to come up. So that way all the recruiters, even though their work from home, they still have their cell phone readily assessable so they can field any calls and communicate with potential applicants. So Google is still there. Yelp is still there. All the recruiters have put their information on Yelp as well, so that way they can go ahead and get their cell phone information. They're on Instagram. So the recruiters are really, really out there on all these social media platforms and these digital platforms so applicants can reach us readily. - All right, well, I want to thank you both for your time today and we appreciate all that you continue to do for our Air Force. - Thank you. We surely appreciate the opportunity to share our perspective with you. - Absolutely. Thank you so much for this opportunity - Truly unprecedented times, not only in the First Command but across the Air Force, the DOD, and the world. So much going on in the recruiting world. In fact, Air Force Recruiting Service also just took a huge step forward in the Total Force Department on April 15th, just a few days ago, as the Air National Guard Recruiting and Retention signed on to be a part of the newly merged Total Force Lead Refinement and Call Center. So, a lot of initiatives going on with the Air Force Recruiting Service. And so we want to thank Sergeant Coleman and Sergeant Bazile for taking time out of their busy schedules to talk to us about agile shipping and virtual recruiting. As a reminder, you can follow Air Education and Training Command and the AETC Command Team on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, as well as get your latest news on the web at www.aetc.af.mil. Thanks for tuning into the podcast as we dive into the world of recruiting, training and education. For our entire AETC Public Affairs team, I'm Dan Hawkins. So long. We'll talk to you next time on "The Air Force Starts Here"