Naval Revitalization Efforts: A Case Study

For squadron revitalization efforts to be both successful and enduring, commanders must be given authority that is commensurate with the responsibility for an entire unit. For far too long, commanders responsible for the management of their manpower resources have been denied the authority to make meaningful changes to their Unit Manpower Documents (UMD). To make even minute changes to positions on their UMD, commanders must endure a laborious staffing process which ultimately “asks” Major Commands (MAJCOM) for approval. Empowering squadron commanders to manage their manpower resources can be accomplished by providing squadron commander’s support Staffs (CSS) with access to the Manpower Programming and Execution System (MPES) and the rights to build and publish projects. Under the current Authorization Change Request (ACR) process, commanders at all levels must request UMD changes through their servicing manpower office, who advise and transmit the request to the applicable MAJCOM. The process does not stop there, as MAJCOM/A1M staffs the request to applicable A-Staff offices for coordination, after which the project is finally published. This excessive and unnecessarily lengthy staffing process has the potential to, and in many cases does, bring with it a negative mission impact on the
This argument itself fails the logic test by not acknowledging that training either in technical school or locally administered can be put in place to equip CSS personnel with the necessary tools to accomplish this initiative. Additionally, every position in the Air Force has an associated servicing manpower office, whose mission does, and always has included advising commanders on the effective use of their manpower