Air Force News, news from Iraq - Air Force Times

Many to deploy for at least 6 months

With its deployment system in tatters, the Air Force announced it is overhauling the deployment calendar for about half of the active-duty airmen who deploy.

The new calendar does away with the promise of four-month deployments for everyone, acknowledging that about half of all airmen deploying will be gone for six months or more, and that they may deploy more often than once every 20 months.

The other half could stick to 4-month deployments.

The Air Force standard has been each airman deploying for four months once every 20 months. But that standard couldn’t keep up with the demands of filling “in lieu of” positions for the Army or staff a wide range of positions needed to protect and operate air bases.

Now, deployment schedules will depend on the job — the Air Force Specialty Code and Unit Type Code — to which an airman is assigned. The Air Force press statement didn’t say which AFSCs are tagged for six-month assignments and multiple deployments within the 20-month AEF cycle. However, several career fields are already on the hook for six-month deployments including security forces, civil engineering and public affairs.

Setting deployment lengths and frequencies based on AFSCs could end the confusion that comes when airmen with the same assignment at their home base find themselves deployed for different lengths or with unexpectedly extended deployments.

The service is phasing in the new deployment calendar over several months with the goal of having it in place for many airmen by year’s end.

READ MORE: The most-deployed AFSCs