News

It’s That Time of Year Again

  • Published
  • By Lt. Col. Travis Ingber
  • 14th Student Squadron Commander
COLUMBUS AIR FORCE BASE, Miss. --  Yes, it's that time of year again. And no, I'm not talking about back-to-school season. Nor am I talking about Fall. We've still got plenty of weeks of scorching heat before we need to start talking about raking leaves. What I'm talking about is that time of year when we at Columbus AFB see a large influx of new Lieutenants showing up and populating our work centers in the form of "Casual LTs." The official term for these officers is Students Awaiting Pilot Training, or APTers. And that's an important thing for us to remember. These LTs don't come here just to make our lives easier (although they often do). They were competitively selected to come here to attend pilot training.

We just had around 100 U.S. Air Force Academy graduates in-process last week and we will get about another 120 Reserve Officer Training Corps graduates in a couple of months. Unfortunately, we only start a new class every three weeks, and we can only put about 15 of them in each class. The other slots in each class go to international students, Air National Guard and A.F. Reserve students, and officers who were accepted into pilot training from other AFSCs; all of whom only show up on base a couple weeks prior to their class start date. For this reason, we employ these new USAFA and ROTC officers across the base while they wait for their turn to start training. As they get their opportunity to start pilot training, they vacate their casual jobs, often times not to be replaced until this time next year when more new officers arrive. This is why many of you who may have been enjoying the presence of a casual lieutenant in your work center earlier in the year, have had to go without for the last couple of months. We simply run out of officers who are waiting their turn to shine in pilot training.

Now that most offices have had an opportunity to meet their new casual lieutenants, I would like to address some things that are important to remember. First, these officers are not here to do our jobs for us so that we can sit and play Bubble Buster all day. Most squadrons on base are experiencing enough pain with reduced manning levels and force shaping programs that these officers can play a very important role in picking up the slack or filling gaps where perhaps someone has been doing the job of two or more Airmen. The pitfall to remember, though, is that eventually you will lose this lieutenant, and not having a plan to fill that void can lead to turmoil until another arrives, maybe months down the road. Where these officers can play a very important role is in bringing a fresh perspective from a young, bright mind to your shop. They all have a variety of college degrees. I would recommend finding out what they're interested in and using that talent to find and improve inefficiencies, create a better database, streamline the office's processes, or whatever new idea they can bring to life.

A second important aspect of the casual lieutenant program that I would like to address is mentorship. Once these officers start training, for the most part they are very singularly focused on one thing - becoming pilots. Officer Professional Development unfortunately takes a back seat over the span of their training. This time prior to pilot training is a great opportunity to mentor them, whether you are their supervisor or the Senior Airman working at the desk next to them. Take time to talk about your Air Force experiences and what it means to be an officer and a leader, whether from the perspective of a more senior officer, or from the perspective of an airman, NCO or civil servant. This is a great opportunity for you to help mold the future leaders of the Air Force, not just put them to work doing menial tasks.

Finally, these lieutenants are not "free labor." They come with a price, and that price is a Letter of Evaluation at the end of their casual duty assignment. Most of these officers will be in the training pipeline for well over two years before they get to their first operational unit. During this time, they are not allowed to have performance reports written on them. They will only receive training reports to cover this entire time period of their career. However, we will make sure that their best accomplishments from their casual duty, pulled from the LOEs you write on them, are documented in the bottom block of their final training report. This is the only way that the great work they do for you can become a part of their permanent record. Well...not the ONLY way. You can also submit them for an Achievement Medal if you feel they really went above and beyond and did outstanding work for you, or tackled a really big project, or created a new process that really streamlined the way your shop functions. These are not required, and not every casual lieutenant will get one, but it's a great way for you to show your appreciation and to take care of that young officer who worked hard for you.

Remember, casual lieutenants are a privilege, not a right. Please don't abuse them, please take the time to mentor them, and please recognize them for their efforts. If you have questions about the program or if your work center does not have a casual lieutenant and you think you have a great opportunity for one, you can contact the 14th Student Squadron, Transition Office, at 434-7618.