JOINT BASE SAN ANTONIO-LACKLAND, Texas – The Air Force Services Center is in the final stages of testing a new course to boost the skill sets of installation force support readiness managers across the Department of the Air Force.
The Force Support Readiness Managers Course is a major update from one used over a decade ago, and directly supports Great Power Competition and other key DAF initiatives to reoptimize the Air and Space Forces to deter and prevail in a high-end fight.
“It focuses on planning and understanding the full spectrum of force support contingency operations, supporting agencies, and war and mobilization planning to zero in on how readiness managers are expected to organize, train and equip their forces,” said Col. Chip Hollinger, AFSVC director of mission operations.
“With a higher focus placed on the Secretary of the Air Force’s ‘Readiness to Fight’ and ‘Resilient Basing’ imperatives, as well as a focus on decentralized decision making, the students are pushed to understand and plan for all conditions required to quantify success,” he said.
The original course, shelved in 2012, was the Prime Readiness in Base Services Managers Course and was a requirement for services readiness personnel, said Master Sgt. Luke Hickox, AFSVC Air Force Services Readiness and Plans program manager.
Although all services Airmen have a basic-level understanding of readiness from their 3- and 5-level training, the new course will be their first deep dive into managing a plans and programs office that isn’t specific to their career field but to the overarching force support squadron capability, Hickox said.
“The revised course introduces concepts that run parallel with our joint partners, fully supporting and indoctrinating members into the Air Force’s A-Staff structure in terms of planning and execution,” Hollinger said. “The course prioritizes proactive schemes of maneuver to plan for primary, secondary and tertiary effects and the organizational flow that helps quantify mission success in today’s current operating environment, arming commanders with better equipped, strategic-minded NCOs, senior NCOs and civilians.”
Master Sgt. Kelly Ingram, 6th Force Support Squadron Readiness and Plans section chief at MacDill AFB, Florida, recently attended a beta test at AFSVC headquarters in San Antonio. In her position, she oversees a four-person team responsible for force support contingency and in-garrison training and deployment transition planning.
She said the home station readiness training and bare-base site planning portions of the course were very beneficial.
“It allowed more engagement from students to not only retain the information but increase our knowledge on what to do in real-world scenarios,” Ingram said.
Hickox said the course ensures the force support community has trained members who can communicate force support and manpower capabilities during planning events and program execution, whether that be in garrison or in a contingency environment.
“Force support readiness is a direct contributor to the overall readiness of our mission partners across the combat support specialties,” Hollinger said. “Our goal is to build critical thinkers and decision-makers, capable of advising, planning and executing to prepare for their role in future conflict.”