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BAGRAM AIR FIELD, Afghanistan - Having risen to the height of
public interest since the commencement of the Resolute Support
Mission in January, the drawdown of U.S. forces in Air Force Central
Command has weighed on the minds of many in 2015, but perhaps more
heavily on one mind in particular.
As the man crunching the
numbers here, Tech. Sgt. Gregory Green, 455th Expeditionary Force
Support Squadron manpower analyst, views the reduced Air Force
footprint through a slightly clearer lense than the average
interested party.
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U.S. Air Force Tech. Sgt. Gregory Green, 455th Expeditionary Force Support Squadron manpower analyst, analyses spreadsheets Feb. 12, 2015 at Bagram Air Field, Afghanistan. As a one-deep analyst in the only Air Force manpower office in Afghanistan, Green provides personnel retention and reduction recommendations to commanders across the wing. (U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Whitney Amstutz)
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“There are magic numbers,” Green said. “Numbers for how
many support personnel should be at BAF as well as how many
Airmen should be part of the aviation package. The same can
be said for locations like Kandahar and Jalalabad. These
numbers are always evolving and it's my responsibility to
analyze the unit's needs and make recommendations on the
best way to fill these requirements.”
To those on
the outside looking in, reaching end strength numbers might
appear to be simple as elementary subtraction. However, when
factors such as safety, security, quality of life and
sustainability are added to the equation, the answers are
not always cut and dry.
“We are in the process of building the Resolute
Support Mission Change Request,” Green said. “It's an
intricate progression and it has to be handled with the
utmost care and attention to detail. Manpower is most
important during a buildup and a drawdown and this is a
unique situation in that while we're ending one mission,
we're posturing to support another, namely the Train, Advise
and Assist mission. We have to ensure we have the right
people to facilitate success.”
In order to reduce the
number of Airmen flowing into the area of responsibility
each rotation, a critical piece of Green's process is
immersing himself in various units around base, developing
an understanding of how they operate, and finally, making
recommendations to the commanders who ultimately make
personnel reduction decisions.
“I don't have the
authority to decide who stays and who goes,” Green says.
“What I can do, however, is get to know an organization so
that I have the wherewithal to advise commanders and
superintendents on how and where they can best utilize the
smallest amount of people. It's challenging to maintain a
mission and also send people home. We're all learning to do
more with less.”
As those with boots on the ground
can easily attest, the military presence in Afghanistan is
undoubtedly shrinking. Throughout this historic transition,
those in uniform can rest assured that Airmen charged with
trimming the right pieces at the right time do so with the
finesse such a task requires.
“Predicting what the
future of operations will look like here is a difficult
thing to do,” Green said. “For this round of cuts, we're
doing the best we can for the people and the mission; we'll
just keep doing that until we're where we need to be.”
By U.S. Air Force Staff Sgt. Whitney Amstutz
Provided
through DVIDS
Copyright 2015
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