Total-force officers take next step

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman William Blankenship
  • 42nd Air Base Wing Public Affairs
Air Force has continued its total-force officer integration, launching the Voluntary Limited Period of Active Duty program in early 2016.
This program provides an opportunity for Air National Guard and Air Force Reservists to become active-duty Airmen for a period of time.

For three years and one day, Air Force Reserve and Guard officers can fill Air Force Reserve Officer Training Corps openings for members of certain Air Force specialties.

"The addition of Air National Guard and Air Force Reserve officers to our AFROTC mission is a natural progression of the total-force initiatives we have undertaken at the Holm Center," said Brig. Gen. Paul Guemmer, commander of Jeanne M. Holm Center for Officer Accessions and Citizen Development. "While it is not a permanent solution, it is the next evolution in fully implementing total-force officer accessions.  Secretary James has made it clear that the world's greatest Air Force should be powered by Airmen from all components, and the VLPAD is an important step on that journey.  It will provide immediate relief to the critically undermanned AFROTC detachments and ultimately allow us to reach our goal of institutionalizing total force manning across Officer Training School and AFROTC by 2020."

During their time leading AFROTC detachments, selectees will hold the responsibility of molding cadets while they earn their college degree, preparing them for Air Force leadership, regardless if they are active-duty, reserve or guard.

"We recently held a Total-Force Officer Accessions summit where seasoned regular Air Force and Air Reserve community members gathered to help build a vision of what a total-force officer accessions process should look like," said Guemmer. "We are currently working with all the components, AETC, and the total-force continuum to identify the way forward based on ideas generated by the summit team.  While there are a number of policy and resource obstacles that need to be overcome, a total-force officer accessions process is the right thing for the Air Force."

Integrating the training and duties of officers has been an ongoing process as Air Force Officer Training School began training all cadets simultaneously in 2014.

In addition to being instructors, other officer opportunities will be available under VLPAD including detachment commanders, Air Command and Staff College instructors, remotely piloted aircraft pilots and T-6 instrument simulator instructors.

Col. Sherry Stearns-Boles, AFROTC commander, believes the total-force officer helps supplement the manpower gaps at detachments, all while communicating that the Air Force is one team with one fight, and that team is active duty, ARC and civilians.

"That's how we do Air Force daily operations and what better way to instill that perspective in our future lieutenants than to show it to them during their training and development while at the detachments," she said. "Although our VLPAD program was approved as a short-term solution, I'd like to see it, or something similar, be institutionalized and become an enduring way we man our cadre in AFROTC."

Applicants require a letter of recommendation from their Wing Commander. Individual mobilization augmentees and members of the Participating Individual Ready Reserve require a letter of recommendation from their unit commander, or equivalent, and readiness and integration organization detachment commander.

For more on the VLPAD program, visit the myPERS web page: https://gum-crm.csd.disa.mil/app/answers/detail/a_id/30624/kw/vlpad/p/16,17