Edwards AFB News

Career Assistance Advisor available on Edwards to help Airmen with career decisions

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. Angelique Smythe
  • 95th Air Base Wing Public Affairs
EDWARDS AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. --  Career decisions for Airmen can be tough at times. At a certain point Airmen may find themselves trying to decide whether or not they should re-enlist, retrain or apply for a special duty. Sometimes they may need a little guidance.

Edwards' new Career Assistance Advisor, Master Sgt. Douglas Dillingham, can provide the assistance Airmen need to help make the career decisions that are best for them.

"If Airmen have to make any kind of career decision, they can talk to me," Sergeant Dillingham said. "I can explain the benefits or the pros and cons of the decision, and, in the end, we want to come up with the best possible decision for that Airman and their family."

The Career Assistance Advisor does not work to convince Airmen to do one thing or the other. They're simply there to provide advice and all the correct facts that are needed to make the right decisions.

For example, if an Airman is approaching a deadline to decide on re-enlistment and they've chosen to decline promotional testing because they've already made up their mind to get out of the Air Force, the Career Assistance Advisor could inform them that declining promotional testing would make them ineligible for re-enlistment, should they decide to re-enlist at the very last moment.

"We want to keep Airmen from making those kinds of mistakes," said Sergeant Dillingham. "We want to make sure that they're informed on any decision they must make within their career."

It is primarily the responsibility of the Airman's supervisor to provide career counseling on benefits, entitlements, and opportunities available in the Air Force (in accordance with Air Force Instruction 36-2618, paragraph 4.1.14).

However, "in the event the supervisor doesn't completely talk that through with their Airmen, or maybe they don't have all the facts themselves, that's what I'm here for," Sergeant Dillingham said.

Sergeant Dillingham said one of the things he'll be pushing is the Air Force Benefits Fact Sheet, which lists and explains benefits such as the Family Subsistence Supplemental Allowance, Station Allowances, Federal Long Term Care Insurance Program, VA Home Loans, educational benefits and commissioning opportunities. To see this fact sheet, visit www.hqafsa.org/am/src/anewl/afbfs.doc. Supervisors are required to provide this fact sheet to Airmen after each feedback counseling session.

Within the next few months, Sergeant Dillingham said Airmen within 13 months of their date of separation will be able to attend the Informed Decision Briefing where they'll receive a three-hour presentation on facts about what an Air Force career can offer.

"We also encourage family members to go to this briefing so they can get the straight talk about what all of the benefits are," he said.

The Career Assistance Advisor is also planning to conduct NCO professional enhancement courses, which will refresh staff sergeants and junior technical sergeants on skills learned in Airman Leadership School, as well as those they will learn at the NCO Academy, to help them with their jobs as first-line supervisors.

For more information, or to set up an appointment with Sergeant Dillingham, call 661-277-1984 or send an e-mail to douglas.dillingham@edwards.af.mil. He is available for walk-ins Monday through Friday 8 a.m. to 3 p.m.