The Air Forces Advanced Arsenal for Mission Success

The Air Force's mission is to fly, fight, and win; in other words, to kill people and blow up things. This only happens with an arsenal of advanced aircraft that can deliver bombs on target and haul warfighters to the frontline. To perform this mission, the Air Force relies on a highly trained and disciplined cadre of aircraft mechanics (AFPC, 2019). Many Air Force specialties have the responsibility of maintaining Air Force aircraft. Crew chiefs inspect the aircraft, the communication, and navigation shop maintain the radios and navigation systems, hydraulic specialists repair and inspect hydraulic systems, electricians maintain the never-ending sea of electrical wiring, and propulsion specialists are responsible for the engines (AFPC, 2019).

Every maintainer travels a similar path to become an Air Force mechanic. The path begins with BMT and is the start of an Airmen’s career.
Recruitment is the moment when the diverse paths of thousands of men and women converge in a common decision, to join the United States military (Zimmerman, Helmus, Ogletree, & Posard, 2019).

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Ensuring force readiness requires the ability to identify recruits who are of sufficiently high quality and who will also fulfill the requirements of their first term of service (Marrone, 2020). It represents a potential recruit’s first interaction with the bureaucracy and the challenges and opportunities that come with navigating the military (Zimmerman, Helmus, Ogletree, & Posard, 2019).
For the Air Force, the Major Command responsible for basic and initial training falls under Air Education Training Command (AETC). The mission of AETC is to recruit, train, and educate Airmen to deliver airpower for America (AETC, 2018).

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Very few enlisted military jobs require previous training or education. Applicants go through an in-depth and thorough process to determine an applicant’s potential (Marrone, 2020). Military applicants’ selections are determined based on aptitude, background checks, and medical screenings to determine physical capabilities or restrictions (Marrone, 2020). The Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery (ASVAB) is used to assess cognitive ability, verbal, math, spatial, and technical knowledge. The ASVAB is essentially an entrance exam that uses a series of questions that are used as a predictor of training success and job performance (Wall, 2018). Based on the ASVAB results applicants are assigned a specialty that meets the needs of the military, for example, maintenance, personnel, medical, operations, etc. (Carretta, Ree, & Teachout, 2016). There are minimum scores for certain career fields to ensure recruits are assigned to a job that aligns with their potential capabilities (Wall, 2018). Once all the aptitude tests, medical screenings, background checks, and other information are collected, the Air Force can offer a potential recruit a contract (Marrone, 2020).
Military enlistment has been voluntary since 1973. The military services face challenges in recruiting and retaining high-quality individuals (Marrone, 2020; Zimmerman, Helmus, Ogletree, & Posard, 2019; Helmus et al., 2018). The military is always competing with colleges and market forces to attract and recruit high school graduates (Richburg-Hayes, 2018). Standards for recruitment may vary depending on when the supply of enlistees is low, such as during wartime and when the national economy is thriving (Lundquist, Pager, & Strader, 2018). A difference is that the recruitment of military applicants varies from the private sector in that the private sector focuses on applicants that already possess job-related knowledge, skills, and abilities (Carretta, Ree, & Teachout, 2016). The number of available military applicants remains relatively studied, and with troop numbers decreasing due to the current climate, the military must select the best possible applicants through pre-service screening, testing, and selection process (Marrone, 2020).
Due to fiscal constraints, the military must maximize the collective potential of accepted military applicants (Marrone, 2020; Harrington et al., 2017). Due to being at war for many years and the increasing cost of equipment and personnel, the defense sector is faced with uncertainty and shifting of spending priorities (Hensel, 2016). The effects of sequestration have affected all areas of military spending, bringing to light a higher focus to ensure the right people are recruited and brought into the military(Norrlof & Wohlforth, 2019; Tama, 2018). Selecting recruits who do not complete their first term of enlistment is expensive and inefficient (Orvis, Maerzluft, Kim, Shanley, Krull, 2018). Recruiters can use bonuses and education opportunities as tools to obtain the attention of potential military members, promising a steady paycheck, money for education, and improved quality of life. Recruits must meet established standards to be placed in a specific career field (Marrone, 2020). An attractive feature is that prospective Airmen can choose their career fields. Based on ASVAB results, aptitude tests, and Air Force career field data, recruits are given a list of career field options (Zimmerman, Helmus, Ogletree, & Posard, 2019). The needs of the Air Force will dictate the final determination.
For enlisted, the Air Force can recruit over 30,000 people annually, all of whom must go through BMT and technical training (Harrington et al., 2017). The reputation of what military training is is well-known. To some military training can be seen as a form of torture due to its techniques, interactional dynamics, and a physiological model of reference that is typical of torture (Barnao, 2019). Military members are a disciplined force that has to be ready to deploy and go to war at a moment’s notice. These relationships are strengthened by enduring similar hardships together. For example, a team of maintainers may not have gone through BMT together, but they all had similar experiences and can use that experience to build camaraderie. This cohesiveness is essential during deployments to maintain resilience during the hardship and to ensure that the Air Force mission is still completed (Zimmerman, Helmus, Ogletree, & Posard, 2019).
BMT is purposely intense to strip an individual of their civilian habits and build a new member that is indoctrinated in military values and habits. This transition can create a sense of loss and anxiety for the trainee (Smith, 2016). The training follows certain specific phases during which recruits are guided as they learn the norms, values, traditions, techniques, which mark the passage from a “civilian” to a “military” life (Barnao, 2019; Zimmerman, Helmus, Ogletree, & Posard, 2019). The military begins as a total institution in basic training, where soldiers have few individual freedoms (Zimmerman, Helmus, Ogletree, & Posard, 2019). The military institution looks to control the behavior of the members through a series of rules and regulations that guide daily relationships and duties (Barnao, 2019).
The intent behind basic training is to teach the basic information and techniques required of a member of the armed forces. Training includes physical, technical, and psychological techniques. There is no individuality, everyone goes through a set of specific processes and emerges as a finished product (Harrington et al., 2017). Enlisted airmen are recruited and graduate BMT, then transported to an Air Force installation for technical training or initial skills training (IST) (Airforce.com).
Air Force BMT is a rigorous experience that lasts 8 and a half weeks and serves to indoctrinate recruits in military culture, values, discipline, and build warfighting skills (Barron & Ogle, 2017). Military training prepares recruits to perform their job, which can include a multitude of various tasks, and to perform that job at a high level of proficiency. All enlisted military recruits will complete some form of initial military training course. An Airmen’s military career begins with BMT.
Motivation for Military Service
Within the military, there are different perspectives amongst those who choose to serve. The military is a unique organizational construct in that, while it is a profession like many others, the military is an institution (Zimmerman, Helmus, Ogletree, & Posard, 2019). Those whose military and personal lives overlap are more likely to highly prioritize the military mission and values. Then some see the military as a means-to-an-end who may have attention focused elsewhere outside of the military (Redmond et al., 2015). The United States Air Force comprises of those who are active duty and the military is their primary job; reservists that have the responsibility to provide combat-ready units and individuals for active duty whenever there are not enough trained units and people in the Regular component of the Air Force to perform any national security mission; and National Guard members who primarily fall under “State” capacity but can be called up to perform federal responsibilities when deemed necessary by Congress (Title 10, 2019).
Many recruits recognize that the military can allow them to become a military professional. Some choose combat roles due to the excitement and adventure, while others choose maintenance due to the opportunity to learn a skill that could translate to a civilian career (Zimmermand, Helmus, Ogletree, & Posard, 2019). Individuals from areas of high versus low unemployment may enlist for different reasons and may also face different incentives to serve; the same is also true for individuals from different regions of the country (Marrone, 2020).
Several themes have emerged when it comes to identifying why a person has enlisted in the military; institutional, and the desire to serve your country, patriotism, adventure, and the challenge that a military career offers; future-oriented and the desire for a military career and money for college; occupation, which includes to the desire to support one’s family; and pecuniary, with the ability to repay school loans or to receive an enlistment bonus (Zimmerman, Helmus, Ogletree, & Posard, 2019; Redmond et al., 2015). Military enlistment can be viewed as aiding in the transition to adulthood as it provides structured skill development, a group cohort for learning and connectedness, an opportunity to secure more for education, and social welfare supports-such as free medical care, generous housing subsidies, subsistence benefits, and subsidies for household expenses (Richburg-Hayes, 2018). Additionally, young adults may see military opportunities provide benefits such as money for college and job security, devotion to one’s country, looking for a challenge, and the adventure that military life can provide (Richburg-Hayes, 2018). Overall, recruits stated that a desire to improve their current prospects to create a better life helped motivate them to join the military (Zimmerman, Helmus, Ogletree, & Posard, 2019).
There are various reasons why someone would join the military. It can be a complex decision motivated by several intrinsic and extrinsic factors (Taylor, Clerkin, Ngaruiya, & Velez, 2015). Members are often viewed as following a calling and generally regard themselves as being different or apart from the broader society (Zimmerman, Helmus, Ogletree, & Posard, 2019). Whether it is for a better future, educational benefits, medical resources, or it’s just to get away from their current living situation. Motivation to join the military can also be attributed to individual factors, such as age, race, income, and norms that relate to family, local, educational, religious factors (Maley & Hawkins, 2018). The importance of family is a recurring reason for why one serves, and family played a critical role in prompting someone to enlist (Zimmerman, Helmus, Ogletree, & Posard, 2019).
Many military personnel holds both institutional and occupation values as they serve. Institutional values are the values and norms that transcend the self-interest of service members in pursuit of some higher good and the occupational values that are defined by self-interested motivations found within the marketplace (Zimmerman, Helmus, Ogletree, & Posard, 2019). The reason someone joins the military is important as the life someone had before the military doesn’t end once they enlist. The military promises to develop soldiers to make a difference for themselves, their families, and the country (Zimmerman, Helmus, Ogletree, & Posard, 2019).
Military Culture
The United States military workplace is a unique environment that causes military personnel to have experiences that differ from civilians (Redmond, Wilcox, Campbell, Kim, Finney, Barr, & Hassan, 2015). The military represents a highly structured environment in which enlistees both live and works (Lundquist, Pager, & Strader, 2018). Part of the military culture's uniqueness is its organizational structure, framework, and rules. (McClary, 2019). Military ethos emphasizes discipline, responsibility, and self-efficacy, and the environment may also mitigate against poor performance (Lundquist, Pager, & Strader, 2018). The military has a distinct environment that could be seen as confusing to the civilian world. Service members are subject to different workplace regulations, which include 24-hour a day and 7-day a week calls, vacation being dictated by mission needs, and the ability to deploy with short notice (Redmond et al., 2015). Culture can be seen as the foundation of the social order that we line in and the rules we abide by (McClary, 2019). For the Air Force, the foundation is founded in the Air Force Core Values: Integrity First, Service before Self, and Excellence in All We Do (Lemay Center, 2015).
The military environment is filled with acronyms, career-specific jargon, and strange rules and regulations. It is made up of norms, songs, specific languages, and ways of thinking (Barnao, 2019). The military workplace lets military personnel have experiences that differ from civilians. There are many subcultures within the military culture, identified by specific occupation, whether it be a pilot or mechanic (Meyer, Writer, & Brim, 2016). The military meets the definition of culture by all accounts. It has a language, code of manners, norms of behavior, belief systems, dress, and rituals. Military culture is more delineated than most cultures, as many of its tenants are defined by law (Meyer, Writer, & Brim, 2016).
Through indoctrination, military culture overlays and often replaces previous cultural beliefs while reducing (but not eliminating) many disparities that exist in civilian culture. Immersion in military culture can be such an indelible experience that veterans will identify with it more than any other cultural influence, even decades after leaving active duty service (Meyer, Writer, & Brim, 2016). Indoctrination into military culture is so profound that it can fundamentally change a member’s worldview. Service members are expected to be mission-oriented, make sacrifices, and are defined by their ability to function. Military culture includes many differences that are not typically found in a civilian environment; uniformity, not only means the wearing of a uniform but acting and operating under the same rules and expectations; hierarchy, including command rank structure; lack of privacy; masculinity and the perception of emotional suppression (Baarle, Bosch, Widdershoven, Verweij, & Molewijk, 2015).
Within the military, there are different perspectives amongst those who choose to serve. Those whose military and personal lives overlap are more likely to highly prioritize the military mission and values. Then some see the military as a means-to-an-end who may have attention focused elsewhere outside of the military (Redmond et al., 2015). The military tries to create uniformity by emphasizing core values, and service members possess shared experiences, values, languages, and symbols. The codes of conduct in the military are the same for every member and expected to be upheld and personal growth happens in an environment that is extremely structured. Nonstop training and self-improvement and personal responsibility are stressed by the military. Obedience, discipline, self-sacrifice, trust, and courage are identified as key military values; demonstrating the importance of looking out for the team’s wellbeing above that of the individual (McClary, 2019).
The military is a fully functioning community with doctors, bus drivers, police officers, and cooks. Unlike the civilian sector, the military has a principal occupation that includes the responsibility of going to war (McClary, 2019). If you are not at war, then you are training for war. Culture is a product of the social environment and includes a shared sense of values norms, ideas, symbols, and meanings. A person’s culture is comprised of a fusion between different boundaries, such as professional, organizational, and nation (Redmond et al., 2015).
Military organizations need a rigid structure, each branch of the United States military having a unique culture. The United States Air Force is a military organization and it recruits members’ educational institutions, high schools, and colleges, and acculturates the new members in the Air Force culture (Smith, 2016). Like civilian organizations, there can be various culture types across a single base, even differences between the types of career fields in a single office. Every organization has its characteristics, which influence not only personnel, but also interactions in the workforce (Baarle, Bosch, Widdershoven, Verweij, & Molewijk, 2015).
The military workplace achieves its goal of creating a mission-ready force through socialization, structure, discipline, and constant training (McClary, 2019; Harringont et al., 2017). With the focus on the group’s wellbeing, as well as the unique military working and living culture, new military personnel can find it difficult to adapt to the civilian culture (Redmond, 2015). Reserve and Guard members might have additional challenges as they navigate their specific subculture, in addition to living and working amongst the civilian culture, while simultaneously fulfilling work, training, and deployment obligations in the military (McClary, 2019).
Reserve and National Guard members may not rely on the military as their primary occupation, which can include a different set of values that can have a difference in how each member serves in the military (Redmond, 2015). Things that rest on the mind of Reserve and Guard members are those that come with maintaining civilian employment. Civilian employment may be disrupted due to mandatory training and deployments which can impact their economic wellbeing as well as create employment setbacks (Redmond et al., 2015). Facing difficulty in a technical training course can weigh on the mind of Reserve and Guard members and add additional stress for them to complete their course on-time. complete their course on-time.

Updated: Apr 29, 2023
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The Air Forces Advanced Arsenal for Mission Success. (2022, Feb 22). Retrieved from https://studymoose.com/usa-air-forces-essay

The Air Forces Advanced Arsenal for Mission Success essay
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