An official website of the United States government
Here's how you know
A .mil website belongs to an official U.S. Department of Defense organization in the United States.
A lock (lock ) or https:// means you’ve safely connected to the .mil website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.

Home : Media : News : News Article View
NEWS | Nov. 18, 2014

AF Secretary Wants to Recruit More Women, Open Combat Fields

By Wyatt Olson Stars and Stripes

Although women comprise about 20 percent of the Air Force, the service needs to increase that ratio through better recruitment and retention policies and by opening combat-related fields to women, the Air Force’s top leader said Monday.

“Of all the military services, we have the highest proportion of women as compared to the others,” Air Force Secretary Deborah Lee James told a news conference that also included Gen. Lori Robinson, who became the first woman to lead an Air Force major component command when she assumed command of Pacific Air Forces last month.

Hawaii was James’ first stop on a 10-day tour of Pacific bases that will take her to Guam, Japan, South Korea and Alaska.

“The not-so-good news is that I don’t see why we can’t do better on that overall percentage,” said James, who became secretary 11 months ago. “If we’re upwards to 20 [percent] today, why can’t we be upwards to 30 percent in the years to come?”

At the same time, however, the Air Force is in the midst of cutting its roughly 690,000 active, Reserve and National Guard airmen and civilians by 20,000, she said. The cuts are “principally” active-duty airmen and “to a lesser degree” from the Reserve and National Guard, with several thousand civilian jobs being cut during the next five years.

“We’re coming down in all of our components, and we’re trying to do it in a very systematic way to reshape our force and make sure we have the right people in the right jobs going forward,” James said.

The Air Force has been using incentives to induce airmen to voluntarily leave when possible, but it’s also forced out others, she said.

The Air Force downsizing “will touch airmen in every region,” James said.

“But with that said, because this is such an important region, we man at 100 percent here in the Pacific,” she said. So regardless of whether Pacific theater airmen leave voluntarily or are forced out, their positions will ultimately be refilled, she said.

“I project that the downsizing should be done on the military side certainly by next summer, which is good news because I want our airmen focused on their families and their jobs and their own development and not worrying about the uncertainties of the future,” James said.

The Air Force faces a quandary in losing women after they’ve served about seven to 10 years. The attrition rate for women is twice as high as men at that mid-career level, she said.

“So we need to bore down and figure out why that’s happening and how can we turn that around,” she said, turning to face Robinson, whom she had nominated for the PACAF position. “Because, of course, to produce more Gen. Robinsons in future years, you’ve got to make sure that we retain some of these terrific women.

“I’m not satisfied that we have enough in the senior ranks at the moment. We’re probably better than the other services at the moment, but that’s still not good enough.”

The Air Force currently doesn’t allow women to hold the positions of combat rescue officer, special tactics officer and special operations weather officer, along with several enlisted positions: combat controller, tactical air command and control party, pararescue and enlisted special operations weather. The Air Force has stated it will open those fields to women at the beginning of 2016.

James said the Air Force is working on “gender-neutral standards” for those fields.

“That is to say, whatever the standard is, it will be the same for men and women, but then let’s see if we can’t open it up and let qualified applicants compete,” she said.

James said her three priorities have been taking care of personnel, assuring combat readiness and making every dollar count.

To achieve that third aim, the nation needs another round of base closures and realignments, she said.

“I’ve had a whole part of my career in the private sector, and I can tell you without question, a business would never spend money on leases or on buildings that were no longer needed at the expense of reinvesting those dollars in their people and their technology and in their future,” she said.

The Defense Department estimates it has about 24 percent excess capacity worldwide, she said, representing a huge outlay of money each year for building maintenance and leases “that we don’t need for the future.”

Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel told a group of troops Sunday that he was going to ask Congress to establish a base-closure committee.

Congress has expressed little desire to undertake another round of closures because they ultimately mean the loss of jobs in the districts they represent.

But the Defense Department will again face forced sequestration funding cuts for fiscal year 2016, which begins next October, unless Congress and the White House can agree on a deal to provide needed revenues. The projected cost savings from base closures could end up being a part of that deal.

Pentagon officials have said another round of cuts in personnel and equipment will affect readiness.

“Sequestration remains the law of the land in FY16, and unless Congress passes a new law to eliminate it or change it or lift it, we will be back to where we were, and that concerns me a great deal about our current readiness,” James said.

CONNECT WITH USINDOPACOM
Facebook

Like Us
Twitter
342,185
Follow Us

ENGAGE & CONNECT MORE WITH PACOM

                                                 

IN THE USINDOPACOM NEWS
Australia Welcomes United Sates Marines Back to Darwin
US Marines have begun arriving in the Northern Territory for this year’s Marine Rotational Force – Darwin. They will conduct training activities to deepen interoperability and better position our forces to respond to contingencies in the region.
March 22, 2023 - Defence Australia -- United States Marines have arrived in the Northern Territory as part of the 12th rotation of Marine Rotational Force – Darwin (MRF-D).Over the next seven months, up to 2,500 Marines will conduct combined...

Logistics in Peacetime is Hard Enough; Now Add Water, Distance, and Being Shot At: USFJ DCOM
Brig. Gen. James Wellons, deputy commander of U.S. Forces Japan, participated in a panel at the Defense Security Equipment International conference in Tokyo, Japan, Friday, March 17. The panel, comprised of military officers from each service of Japan’s Self Defense Forces as well as senior officers from the British Army and Royal Australian Air Force, discussed the important role of logistics planning to national security strategy.
March 22, 2023 - TOKYO, Japan -- Brigadier General James B. Wellons, deputy commander, U.S. Forces Japan, participated on a panel at the Defense Security Equipment International conference in Tokyo, Japan, Mar. 17, 2023.The panel, comprised...

CTF 74 Visits U.S. Submarine in Australia
Royal Australian Navy Rear Adm. Matt Buckley, Head of Capability, Nuclear Powered Submarine Task Force and Rear Adm. Rick Seif, commander, Submarine Group 7 board the Los Angeles-class fast-attack submarine USS Asheville (SSN 758) for a distinguished visitor cruise with Australian political leaders and diplomatic guests, March 15. Asheville conducted multiple tours for distinguished visitors during a routine visit to HMAS Stirling, Western Australia to enhance interoperability and communication, and strengthen relationships with the Royal Australian Navy.
March 21, 2023 - HMAS STIRLING, Australia -- Rear Adm. Rick Seif, commander, Submarine Group 7/Task Force (CTF) 74, visited Perth, Australia, to meet with the Sailors of the Los Angeles-class fast-attack submarine USS Asheville (SSN 758)...

U.S. Indo-Pacific Commander Presents Gen. Yamazaki with Legion of Merit
TOKYO (March 19, 2023) Gen. Kōji Yamazaki, Chief of Staff, Joint Staff of the Japan Self-Defense Forces, joins Adm. John C. Aquilino, Commander U.S. Indo-Pacific Command, at a ceremony presenting Yamazaki with the Legion of Merit in Tokyo. Yamazaki received the award for exceptionally meritorious service, where his professionalism, initiative and dedication to duty resulted in significant advancements in the United States-Japan mutual security partnership, expansions to the Self-Defense Forces contributions regionally and globally, updates to force posture and continuous bilateral information exchange. (U.S. Navy photo by Chief Mass Communication Specialist Shannon M. Smith)
March 21, 2023 - Adm. John C. Aquilino, Commander U.S. Indo-Pacific Command, presented Gen. Kōji Yamazaki, Chief of Staff, Joint Staff of the Japan Self-Defense Forces, with the Legion of Merit, Degree of Commander, in Toyko on March 19,...

U.S. Coast Guard, Federated States of Micronesia National Police Conduct at-sea Engagements to Combat Illegal Fishing, Strengthen Skills
The USCGC Oliver Henry (WPC 1140) makes a port call in Yap during a Federated States of Micronesia patrol on March 13, 2023. The Oliver Henry is the 40th 154-foot Sentinel-class fast response cutter named for Oliver T. Henry, Jr., an enlisted African American Coast Guard member first to break the color barrier of a then-segregated Service and homeports in Guam.
March 21, 2023 - SANTA RITA, Guam -- The U.S. Coast Guard (USCGC) and Federated States of Micronesia National Police conducted a successful at-sea engagement to combat illegal fishing in Yap State on March 16, 2023.The crews of USCGC Oliver...