Stabilizing Critical Infrastructure Tour Lengths
Abstract
While the aerospace expeditionary force (AEF) tour length works well for most personnel supporting a deployment, there are specific areas where the concept is more detrimental than beneficial. Tour lengths in those areas should be reconsidered. The Air Force Scientific Advisory Board defines the aerospace expeditionary force as an adaptable and rapidly employable set of air and space assets that provide the President, Secretary of Defense and combatant commanders with options for missions ranging from humanitanan airlift to combat operations. The AEF concept has ten prepackaged combat units, using airmen assigned to a regular unit, which rotate every three months over a fifteen-month period. Currently, there are airmen serving in critical career fields (i.e., intelligence, security, combat engineering) that are remaining beyond the normal 90-day cycle, extending their tours up to 179 days. As AEF units rotate, key functions lose expertise vital to long-term US goals. One example is USCENTCOM's Combined Air Operation Center, located on Al Udeid Air Base, Qatar. There is a mixture of tour lengths--normally one-year tours for senior leadership and 90-120 day tours for staff. This CAOC supports the combined force commander's objectives for three disparate geographical areas-- Afghanistan, Iraq, and Horn of Africa.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jan 01, 2004
- Accession Number
- ADA477224
Entities
Organizations
- Air University