Lt. Gen. Richard Scobee, who assumed command of AFRC after Gen. Maryanne Miller moved to Air Mobility Command, told reporters on Wednesday that the command is set to grow by 200 airmen this year.

However, the command is still short about 1,400 full-time maintainers.

“We’ve struggled with the maintainer piece because as our economy has improved there are a lot of job opportunities out there,” Scobee said on the final day of the Air Force Association’s Air, Space and Cyber Conference outside Washington..

The three-star said he’s focusing on three things: recruitment, retention and relocation.

“I want to give people a community to serve in that best suits the needs of their family,” he said. “And I want to pay them commensurate to what they could get — or close to it — on the outside. You can never make exactly in the military what you could on the outside, but I need to get close enough to incentivize people to stay.”

Scobee said the command is working to steadily increase the number of maintainers. This includes moving some full-time maintainers into different units.

Scobee said he’s focused on giving citizen airmen the best pay and benefits package possible to entice them to join and stay in the Air Force Reserve.

“So we’re trying to bring that AGR pay status, that full-time pay status, into our maintainers as well because … we’re trying to ensure we give airmen pay statuses that best suit their needs,” he said.

AFRC is working with the Office of the Secretary of Defense and the Air Force secretary’s staff, as well as with members of Congress, in an attempt to improve reservists’ pay and benefits.

“We have … to work with Congress in order to change some of the legislation,” Scobee said.

In addition to monetary incentives, Scobee said predictability is a huge factor in keeping airmen happy.

“What we’re trying to do is get a battle rhythm of how often entire organizations are on the hot seats of deployments,” he said.

Letting airmen know when they’ll go to training or be deployed will help them balance their civilian lives with their employers and families.

“If I can give you predictability when you’re going to all these things, now you have a calendar,” he said. “When I create an environment that has pain in it, retention goes down.”

At the end of August, Chinese officials complained bitterly after U.S. Air Force aircraft entered one of China’s self-declared air defense identification zones. China’s defense ministry said it scrambled jet fighters and took other measures in response to operations by U.S. Air Force B-52 bombers in the vicinity of the South China Sea.

U.S. Air Force officials said two B-52H Stratofortress bombers departed from Andersen Air Force Base in Guam and participated “in routine training missions” on Aug. 27 and 30.

Since taking command of U.S. Pacific Air Forces July 26, Gen. Charles Brown has spent half of his time on the road, getting acquainted with the area of responsibility and building relationships with commanders from other U.S. military services in the region, as well as with the officials of partner nations. Brown said he’s already been out to Japan, Australia, Alaska and Korea.

“The first priority for me, personally, is to get a better understanding of our area of responsibility across the Indo-Pacific,” Brown told Air Force Times.

Part of PACAF’s strategy is to “rethink how we think about the Pacific,” he said. “We’re not looking to make any major changes, but how do we adjust based on the current environment.”

There’s now a greater focus on China and the Pacific, based on the National Defense Strategy, Brown said, especially with China practicing long-range bombing runs that could reach U.S. targets like Guam.

Because the president has nixed large-scale exercises on the Korean Peninsula for the foreseeable future, routine preparedness training there may be more important than ever, given the unpredictable nature of North Korea’s leadership.

“For us, really, it’s how do we make readiness for all types of activities,” he said. “How we actually train ourselves and train with our partners.”

PACAF, he said, must ensure it’s making the best use of its resources to be effective, while also trying to avoid conflict. But he believes PACAF is well-postured, thanks to what previous commanders have done in response to the volatile situation in North Korea.

One advantage of moving to the Pacific, he said, is that the component commands are all in Hawaii. When he commanded U.S. Air Forces Central, the headquarters of the services were spread out. For that reason, there’s an opportunity to work closely together in Hawaii.

“If there’s one key thing I learned out of [working at CENTCOM], it’s that relationships matter,” Brown said. “The relationships you build at the senior level really do matter to be able to get things done.”

Several countries in the Pacific region have representatives either at CENTCOM’s headquarters in Tampa, Florida, or at PACAF’s headquarters at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam.

“For example, I was just in Korea with a senior national representative from the Tampa headquarters, and we had met before,” he said. “Same with Japan.”

Brown said he has come to realize is the importance of staying in touch with partners, especially understanding where common interests lie and working together to protect those interests.

PACAF’s previous commander, Gen. Terrence O’Shaughnessy, offered one piece of advice, he said, and that was to carefully balance the relationships with partners and relationships with the staff.

“What I mean by that is how much you travel,” Brown said. “His goal was to be back at our headquarters about 50 percent of the time. Sometimes, he said, that was kind of tough to do with the demand to meet with partners in the region.”

Because of what previous commanders have done in response to the rising tensions with North Korea, Brown believes the command is the best postured it has been in years to respond to any contingency.

It put even more focus on the area from the Air Force in general and led the PACAF staff to be more introspective on how the command does things.

“I’m excited to take the opportunity and build on that,” he said.

The hurricane was downgraded from a Category 4 storm, but it’s still expected to cause damage and flooding, especially in the Carolinas.

Fort Bragg, which is about two hours from the North Carolina coast, is in “react mode,” Lt. Col. Mike Burns, XVIII Airborne Corps spokesman, told Army Times on Friday.

Hundreds of soldiers and dozens of high-water trucks from other posts are heading to Fort Bragg to assist relief operations, Burns said.

“We moved helicopters — about 70 — to Georgia,” Burns said. “We did leave a small contingent here that can respond immediately.”

Both Fort Bragg and Fort AP Hill in Virginia were designated as FEMA Incident Support and Federal Staging Areas, according to the Army.

Approximately 420,000 Army civilians and family members could be impacted by the storm, which is also affecting training.

Fort Bragg is operating on a reduced manning status, with mission and emergency essential personnel reporting, the Army said.

Basic training graduates at Fort Jackson, South Carolina, won’t go to their next assignments until it’s safe to travel. Fort Jackson is also preparing for approximately 2,000 evacuees, according to the Army.

BCT grads at Fort Lee in Virginia will also stay put until it’s safe to travel.

The Virginia National Guard is planning to bring 1,500 soldiers and airmen to assist with the state’s response operations. Potential missions include high-water transportation, debris reduction, commodity distribution, shelter management assistance and search and rescue, according to the Virginia National Guard.

The North Carolina National Guard will activate 320 soldiers, with an additional 7,000 soldiers and airmen ready to mobilize if called on by the governor.

In South Carolina, about 1,100 Guardsmen are on state orders for hurricane response and will remain on duty for as long as needed.

The Maryland National Guard also anticipates activating 500 soldiers, according to the Guard.

Instead, it goes on your teeth. Yes, your teeth.

California-based Sonitus Technologies is working with the Defense Department to implement the Molar Mic, a miniaturized traditional headset that clips to a user’s back teeth, according to the news release.

The device ditches the need for ear pieces, microphones and wires on the head.

The custom mouthpiece clips onto the user’s back teeth and contains a tiny microphone and speaker-transducer for hearing, the company said. The device uses the teeth and jawbone as a new path for hearing.

Molar Mic is supposed to help communication continue even in extreme conditions that might normally break down radio communication between troops. By placing the device on the teeth, it uses the person’s body to block external noise while reducing gear weight on the user’s head.

The Defense Department contracted Sonitus Technologies for a multiyear, $10 million deal to finish development of the Molar Mic, according to the company and Defense One.

Pararescuemen with the California Air National Guard’s 131st Rescue Squadron in California tested prototypes of the device during rescue operations when Hurricane Harvey hit Houston last year.

“Sonitus Technologies is honored to bring this game-changing technology to our country’s elite military, making them safer and more effective by enabling them to communicate clearly — even in the most extreme situations,” Peter Hadrovic, CEO of Sonitus Technologies, said in the release. “The voice interface sustains communications in dangerous and challenging environments. The Molar Mic is the first in our family of solutions that conventional approaches are unable to address.”

The information technology specialist at Army Human Resources Command at Fort Knox, Kentucky, received the Soldier’s Medal on Friday for his actions that day.

It was May 13, and the Kings were coming back from a surprise visit to Mario’s parents for Mother’s Day.

“Normally we take a different route back, but because of all the traffic that weekend, we took a detour,” King told Army Times.

They were behind a small car and a fuel truck on a two-lane highway when they noticed the small car had veered off to the left, as if to make a turn.

“But then all of a sudden, it went back to the right in front of the fuel truck, and that’s when the accident occurred,” said King, who has served in the Army for 17 years.

He said he thinks the smaller car misjudged how much room it had to get back in front of the truck, which was in a “no-win situation.”

The fuel truck carrying 8,000 gallons of fuel swung around, jackknifed and began rolling down the highway before it came to a stop upside down.

“My wife and I looked at each other like, ‘Did we really just see that?’” King said. “This is something you just see in a movie. Like a Michael Bay movie.”

The small car had spun around, too, but the driver got out with minor injuries, he said.

King and his wife had pulled over at this point and talked to the driver of the small car while others called 911.

Then King ran over to the truck and saw the driver, Burl “Doug” Bowling, trying to get out, but he was stuck.

“He was upside down and his feet were stuck under the dash,” King said. “He managed to grab and push out the windshield.”

The sergeant first class pulled Bowling out of the vehicle and dragged him about 150 feet away as the truck’s fuel tank was engulfed in flames and its tires were exploding.

“The flames hadn’t quite reached the cab of the truck yet, but you could feel the heat from the surrounding flames,” he said.

King’s wife, Adriane, said the way the accident happened, they thought the outcome would be much worse.

“We pretty much thought both [drivers] were gone,” she said. “It was a sense of relief to know both of them were still alive.”

King said his Army training kicked in when he helped the truck driver out of the burning vehicle.

“We do fireman carries and stuff like that, so I know the proper techniques on how to carry a battle buddy off the battlefield,” he said. “It came into play because you have to figure out rather quickly what’s the best way to get somebody not the same size as you out of the vehicle.”

King and his wife said they were shocked when they found out he was receiving the Soldier’s Medal, the Army’s highest peacetime award for valor.

“My husband never deemed himself as being a hero, even though others refer to him as that,” Adriane said. “It’s something we would do for anyone in a state of need.”

King said he’s grateful for an opportunity to have his parents in attendance for a formal ceremony.

“Anytime I got promoted, I was downrange,” he said. “Any big individual achievement for me, they weren’t able to be there. I’m really looking forward to seeing them and their reaction.”

The soldier said even though he’s receiving the award, it’s a “great day for the Army.”

“Oftentimes you see articles and stories, and they’re not always positive,” he said. “I think this is a great day for the Army and a great day for HRC.”

On Friday, Massachusetts Army National Guardsman Scott Landis was piloting a single-engine plane with his brother, Patrick, the Boston Herald reported. The plane’s engine lost power and crashed into a pond, killing Landis and leaving his brother paralyzed from the waist down.

The 34-year-old soldier and his 29-year-old brother wanted to scatter their father’s ashes after he died from cancer on Aug. 14.

Landis joined the Army in 2001 as an aviation operation specialist and served three active-duty combat tours, according to his obituary. He started flying when he was 16 and later became a Black Hawk pilot and instructor in the Army.

Landis, a chief warrant officer, was stationed in Kosovo but was on leave when his father died.

His brother, Patrick, suffered a spinal injury and broken bones from the crash, according to a GoFundMe campaign set up by his aunt. The fund has raised almost $17,000 so far.

A GoFundMe for Landis’ wife and son was also set up and has raised more than $62,000.

The Massachusetts native was flying an Aeronca 7AC Champion, according to the Boston Herald.

“Salt of the earth, a great guy. Scott is just a great guy, always willing to help anybody out, do anything, a gentleman,” Peter Oakley, manager of the Cranland Airport where the plane took off, told the Boston Herald.

Spc. Nicole McKenzie was driving home from the Yonkers armory when she saw a flash of red going over the guardrail on the Saw Mill Parkway, according to an Army news release.

“I saw what looked like the outline of a boy going over the side,” McKenzie said in the release. “I knew something was wrong.”

The cable systems installer and maintainer with A Company, 101st Signal Battalion immediately pulled over to see how she could help.

McKenzie ran to the edge of the overpass, where a police officer was also assessing the scene — then McKenzie saw a boy lying on the rocks below.

The soldier and police officer ran down the overpass, climbing over a fence and dropping 10 feet to the ground in order to reach the boy, the release said.

McKenzie learned the boy was from the Andrus campus in the Bronx, an organization that provides services to children with special needs and behavioral issues.

According to the release, staff from Andrus were talking to the boy when he jumped from the overpass.

McKenzie had recently finished combat lifesaver training with the National Guard, and she began to triage the boy’s injuries.

She and the police officer used splints from McKenzie’s combat lifesaver bag to secure the boy’s neck, arm and leg, the release said.

The soldier also checked his vitals and stayed until medics arrived to take the boy to the hospital.

“I wear the uniform every day because I want to help soldiers — I want to help people,” McKenzie said in the release. “This is my family.”

Fortunately for you, Urban Outfitters has your peacocking needs covered! And for only $30, you can purchase your very own “Rothco Reflective Physical Training Belt.”

Match it with your favorite skinny jeans, a scarf and a snow beanie for that perfect summer look that screams, “I don’t care if it’s 104 degrees out and I’m burning alive — I’m fantastic!”

Traditionally used during on-base runs to avoid being hit by cars before or after dark, the trendy new PT belt from Urban Outfitters will make sure you also avoid being hit by compliments.

The store even decided to advertise the monstrosity on a model wearing all black, because nothing says dark and mysterious like having your entire orbital sockets pummeled into submission by a walking highlighter.

Clearly, normal belts are just not hacking it anymore in the civilian sector.

Perhaps people are forgetting where waistlines exist, devolving mentally to the point of utter anatomical ignorance, and the belt allows for a quick glance downward and an excited exclamation, “Oh yeah!”

If only Christopher Walken could resurrect beloved Saturday Night Live character “The Bruce Dickenson” to give us a “I gotta have more glow belt” phenomenon.

Is no military item sacred enough to avoid being flipped into a fashion statement? Do sports not already shove enough digital camouflage into the face of every consumer?

“Buy this $900 digi camo NFL hoodie to support our troops with .001 percent of the proceeds!”

What’s next? Casually wearing a Marine dress blue jacket with a Navy cover for the purpose of style?

Oh wait.

Nathan Briscoe was only 3 months old when his dad deployed to Europe in May, but Nathan’s family wanted the baby boy to know that his father was always there for him, even from far away.

So Nathan’s mom, Deanna, ordered a “Daddy Doll” with a picture of her husband, Army Sgt. Chase Briscoe, in uniform. The doll company was created for children whose parents were deployed so they could have a reminder of them at home. Deanna also had a recording of her husband’s voice put into the doll so Nathan would be able to hear a message from him.

Nathan, who’s now 6 months old, had the cutest reaction when his mom gave him the doll with his deployed dad’s face on it.

The goal of the Women’s Health Transition Pilot Program is to “provide a female perspective” and connect female airmen with relevant care from the Veterans Health Administration, according to an Air Force news release.

Women are the fastest growing subgroup of veterans in the United States, and they face such health-related challenges as chronic pain, obesity, musculoskeletal issues, depression and suicide, according to the news release.

The release said that since 2001, age-adjusted suicide rates among female veterans have increased by 85.2 percent. Suicide rates among male veterans have increased by 30.5 percent since 2001.

Fewer female veterans seek services and support from the VA, according to the release, and those who do seek care don’t do so until an average of 2.7 years after leaving the military or until health issues have manifested.

“The biggest obstacle that the VA faces is simply awareness on what they provide to female veterans,” Maj. Alea Nadeem, Headquarters Air Force deputy mission manager and member of the Women Initiatives Team, said in the release.

Nadeem said data underscores the need to recruit female service members into Veterans Health Administration care and support services immediately after they separate from the military.

The Women’s Health Transition Pilot Program will be reaching out to female airmen at five different locations in coming weeks:

Joint Base Andrews, Maryland: Aug. 23 and Sept. 18; call 301-981-7087

Hill Air Force Base, Utah: Aug. 14; call 801-777-4681

MacDill Air Force Base, Florida: Aug. 27 and Sept. 17; call 813-828-0145

Pentagon: Aug. 22 and Sept. 21; call 703-693-9460

Scott Air Force Base, Illinois: Aug. 20 and Sept. 21; 618-256-8668

To attend, contact your local Airman and Family Readiness Center.