Air Force officials say that although the shift to an A-staff is driven largely by the need to work in the Joint environment, there is an internal element. According to Brig. Gen. Marshall Sabol, USAF’s 1970s-vintage staff structure doesn’t suit today’s airmen, who often find themselves embedded with other services, such as driving trucks for the Army. Now, says Sabol, an airman will understand the Army’s G-staff, Navy’s N-staff, Marine Corps’ S-staff, as well as the J-staff. The icing on the cake is that within the Air Force, each command will have the same structure. “Back in November, if I were to try to get a hold of a person that dealt with manpower issues, one command might call that the A5M, another the XPM, and still another the DPM,” Sabol said. “This reorganization will change that.”
A massive contract to manage thousands of PCS moves failed because U.S. Transportation Command did not adequately oversee the results, according to the Government Accountability Office.
