{"id":33738,"date":"2021-04-19T20:52:50","date_gmt":"2021-04-19T20:52:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/uncategorized\/2021\/04\/19\/how-airmen-are-assigned-jobs-gets-a-fresh-look-from-new-air-force-panel\/"},"modified":"2026-08-07T20:58:33","modified_gmt":"2026-08-07T20:58:33","slug":"how-airmen-are-assigned-jobs-gets-a-fresh-look-from-new-air-force-panel","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/news\/your-air-force\/2021\/04\/19\/how-airmen-are-assigned-jobs-gets-a-fresh-look-from-new-air-force-panel\/","title":{"rendered":"How airmen are assigned jobs gets a fresh look from new Air Force panel"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

A new Air Force panel will rethink how the service assigns airmen to new jobs, including for troops in complicated situations like dual-military relationships, Chief Master Sergeant of the Air Force JoAnne Bass said Monday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe\u2019re about to have an assignment working group,\u201d she said in a livestreamed question-and-answer session<\/a> with Chief of Staff Gen. Charles \u201cCQ\u201d Brown. \u201cWhat do we expect assignments to look like as we look into the future of our Air Force? What should assignments look like in 2030? We\u2019re kind of backward planning.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While Bass did not elaborate on the issues the group will tackle, she stressed the Air Force wants to make the assignment process more flexible and transparent. She pointed to her own experiences hashing out military assignments with her husband, Rahn Bass, a retired Army first sergeant.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI felt like the [Air Force Personnel Center] was very transparent,\u201d Bass said. \u201cThey will do everything that they can to ensure that families can stay together, to include sister services.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That effort will go hand-in-hand with a new enlisted force development plan due out this summer to better shape the careers of those airmen. Career policy discussions come as the Air Force considers how to meet its combat and peacetime needs while improving quality of life for servicemembers and their families.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Service leaders anticipate a future without much growth in the total workforce. Some career fields are stretched thin by low staffing, high turnover, and a hectic operations schedule, while the Air Force faces record-high retention at the same time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To balance out the force, the service has suggested allowing airmen to retrain into jobs that are hurting for people, as well as offering early separation and transfers into the Air Force Reserve.<\/p>\n\n\n\t