The Air Force has reworked the evaluation system used to determine if an airmen is physically and mentally capable of performing nuclear-related duties, according to a Feb. 27 release. Officials rewrote the Personnel Reliability Program manual to eliminate need for base-level add-ons and to clarify standards for judging an airmen’s physical, emotional, and mental fitness for duty, states the release. Everyone on a nuclear base “is tied into PRP monitoring, from our commander’s and supervisors, to the medical professionals and personnel agencies to a member’s peers and each individual on PRP,” explained Col. Zannis Pappas, nuclear operations career field manager. According to an internal assessment, PRP covered 12,000 airmen force-wide in 2012, demanding nearly 38,000 hours of base-level administrative work, according to the release. The program overhaul was prompted by the Air Force’s 2012 internal study, as well as a follow-on review by the defense acquisition, technology, and logistics undersecretary, according to the release.
The total number of reported sexual assaults in the Department of the Air Force ticked up about two percent in 2024 while still trailing the total from 2022, as Pentagon officials say a hiring freeze on federal government civilian employees limits their ability to fill critical sexual assault prevention and…