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Training instructors score bigger bonuses

Airmen who volunteer to become military training instructors at basic military training, Officer Training School and the Air Force Academy can now get extra cash for their efforts, the Air Force announced Tuesday.

The Air Force, which faces an ongoing shortage of MTIs, is increasing their Special Duty Assignment Pay to encourage more airmen to volunteer and reward instructors for their long work hours, said Col. Bill Foote, director of personnel services at the Air Force Personnel Center.

“We as an Air Force are looking to ensure that we’re getting the right Air Force enlisted leaders ... to go in and mold our airmen of the future,” he said. The extra pay is “an incentive to encourage our enlisted members to [volunteer] for that special duty and to serve in those ... duties that really involve a performance level that’s a little above and beyond.”

Under the revised policy, which took effect June 1, instructors at BMT or the academy will earn $450 per month in SDAP; instructors in support positions will get $375 a month; and those at OTS will earn $300. These instructors already earned SDAP, but the revised policy increases the amounts.

Airmen serving as MTIs on a 179-day temporary duty assignment — who did not previously receive SDAP — now qualify for SDAP while serving as instructors, according to the Air Force announcement.

TDY instructors who began prior to June 1 can receive retroactive SDAP at the previous rates, according to the announcement. But the SDAP does not begin until after the airman completes refresher training and begins actual duty as an MTI.

As of March, the most recent data available, only 62 percent of MTI billets — 349 out of 566 slots —were manned. This means longer hours for instructors and larger flights for airmen at BMT.

The manning shortage is due in part to the new eight-week BMT that debuted in December. The number of instructors needed to staff the program rose from 441 to 566, according to Air Education and Training Command.

The Air Force has pressed hard since December to recruit more instructors, but progress has been slow.

Capt. Rose Richeson, an AETC spokeswoman, said in March that the command can train only 15 new instructors per month, and airmen selected to be instructors have 120 days to report for training. That means there is a delay between recruiting an instructor and getting him into the field at BMT, she said.

But officials say manning levels for MTIs are improving.

“I think things are getting better,” Foote said.

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