Retraining opportunities are made easy

  • Published
  • By Master Sgt. Travis Fritts
  • 325th Fighter Wing
TYNDALL AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. --  I had the pleasure of attending a few commander's calls the past few weeks, one with the 325th Services Squadron and two at the 325th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron.

The units asked me to speak about career opportunities for their enlisted population. To prepare my speaking part, I jumped on the virtual military personnel flight and the Assignment Management System web sites and was struck by how many great jobs were available. The other "light bulb moment" was when I realized how easy this information is to retrieve, from either work or at home.

In the "old days," the retraining process was somewhat mystical and it often seemed like you needed a crystal ball to find out what was available. Today, you can access the Air Force Portal and see exactly how many jobs are available for different ranks, and on AMS you can even see what vacancies are available at each base.

After briefing opportunities at the commander calls, I noticed an increase in phone calls and office visits from folks looking to try something different and help the Air Force fill a needed vacancy. I thought I'd pass along a condensed version of the standard one-hour, "here's-everything-you-need-to-know-to-get-started" briefing.

A couple of things you may be interested in right off the bat are: If you are a first-term Airman, you have a unique status from everyone else who is applying. First-termers are allowed to apply for retraining approximately one year before the end of their initial enlistment. First-termers are also able to apply for jobs that have no advertised slots available by submitting an Exception-To-Policy letter.

An ETP letter outlines your reasoning to the Air Force as to why they should consider your application. For example, the job requires an Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery Mechanical category score of 75 and you only scored a 62. Normally, you would take an Air Force Qualification Test to try to improve your Mechanical score. Let's say you took the AFQT and didn't improve your score, but you still wanted to get into the career field. Your ETP letter might include references to experiences you have in automotive repair, highlight vocational classes you are currently taking downtown or refer to your recent assignment as a trainer in the maintenance shop, etc. The idea is to convince the Air Force that even though you didn't reach the desired score, you do have life experiences that may compensate for the score.

Remember though, not all ETP requests are granted; the letters get routed through Head Quarters Air Education and Training Command, HQ United States Air Force and Air Force Personnel Center for final approval. That process can take some time, and if any of the three agencies disapprove your request, the ETP letter dies.

Career Airmen, those who already reenlisted at least once, are allowed to apply for retraining into Chronic Critical career fields. The critical list shows jobs that the Air Force typically has a hard time filling or keeping manning levels to the expected standard. You would be amazed at some of the fantastic jobs that are listed. Air Traffic Control, Imagery Analysis and Contracting are all excellent paying jobs in the private sector and they are available now as enlisted job opportunities.

If you want to see the most current list of critically needed jobs, go to the AFPC website and type "chronic critical" into the search function. You will see a link for something along the lines of "where do I find the list of chronic critical jobs?" Click the link and it will show the "hot list."

You have the best chance of approval if you choose a job from that list, provided you actually qualify for the job.

Did you join the Air Force hoping to fly? There are seven flying AFSCs currently on the critical list and the recruiter for those jobs is just down the road at Hurlburt Field. Did I mention that flying AFSCs include flight pay and the highly-coveted "wings" badge? The jobs on the list include: Flight Engineer, Loadmaster, Airborne Communications, Airborne Battle Managers, Aerial Gunner, In-Flight Refueling and Airborne Cryptologic Linguist.

Some of the flying jobs require that cross-trainees come from a "feeder" AFSC, meaning they prefer someone who already has a certain skill-set or has experience with aircraft systems. For example, flight engineers require a working knowledge of aircraft hydraulics and electronics, so crew chiefs are an ideal candidate for retraining into this job.

How do you find out what jobs are out there? It's pretty simple, login to vMPF and click the "apply for retraining" link. Next, you should see a link for the "Retraining Advisory" on the left side of the screen. It's the list the Air Force puts out to attract cross-trainees. There are columns for first-term Airman, staff sergeants, technical sergeants, etc. Pay attention to the first column, the list starts with "OBJ OUT," those are the folks the AF is looking to move out of the career field. Scroll down until you see 'OBJ IN," those are the AFSCs that are considered "open and available." The "big book of job listings" is called the Air Force Enlisted Classification Directory; it contains the job descriptions you probably saw at your recruiter's office. It also lists any requirements or prerequisites to enter the AFSC.

Do your homework and look for any disqualifiers that would prevent you from retraining into that job. Some disqualifiers may be waiverable with an ETP letter, some are not.

Okay, so you've found five jobs of interest, now what? Plug them into your Retraining Application you've opened in vMPF and hit the "Submit" button. Off it goes to AFPC and they'll start digging through your records to see if you actually qualify to retrain into the job. They will send an e-mail that tells you how many of the five AFSCs you are eligible to retrain into. The e-mail may also ask you for additional information or documentation they need to further process your application, such as a Class III Flight Physical. Gather those documents as needed and send them off to AFPC.

Next, they will ask you to prioritize the jobs you were approved for and to select eight stateside bases where you would like to be assigned.

I hear you out here, "Where do I find information for which bases have openings?" Easy! Go to the AMS website and choose, "Enlisted Assignments." You'll see a link for "Enlisted Openings" with a dropdown box for AFSCs. Find the one you are applying for and a list will show what skill levels are open and at what base. Align your desires with what is available and you've made an informed "Dream Sheet" or wish list. Once you've picked your prioritized list of jobs and locations, click "Submit" and with any luck, you'll hear from the CSS telling you about your impending approval for retraining.

So the short version is this: open the Retraining Advisory in vMPF, find five AFSCs that interest you, check the Advisory Notes, read the Job Descriptions for any disqualifiers , then apply. Once you get the list of approved AFSCs, prioritize them and pick eight stateside bases. Submit your application and wait to hear back from AFPC.

As the Air Force looks to "right-size" ourselves to meet the challenges of our ever-changing world, career opportunities abound every day. I don't know of any other company that gives a career tool of this magnitude to its people. Not only can you change jobs, you are also encouraged and rewarded for trying something new as part of your career progression; but we'll save that one for the next article.

The United States Air Force remains the best in the world because we anticipate these changes and we focus our mission and abilities to meet these needs. The power is at your fingertips. Once again, the Air Force leads the way.

Hopefully, this has provided potential cross-trainees and supervisors with better insight to the retraining process and has expanded your vision of the types of opportunities available in today's Air Force. If I've piqued your interest and you'd like more information, or would like me to speak to your squadron or shop, please contact me at 283-2222.