The Air Force says that it needs “hundreds” of airmen in almost every major career field to volunteer to serve longer tours in Southwest Asia, filling joint task force positions. It was in February of this year, that USAF officials announced they had designated some JTF positions for longer tours to “provide stability and allow for long-term relationship building with host governments.” (Read more in “The Expeditionary Force Under Stress.”) As with the initial call, USAF says it wants volunteers—officer and enlisted—but will resort to non-volunteers if necessary.
The Air Force is on track to reach its annual goal of graduating 1,500 new pilots that had proved elusive to this point, one year after the service launched a sweeping overhaul of its undergraduate pilot training program, Air Education and Training Command said Sept. 14.
