The Air Force is unlikely to add any more airmen to its space mission in fiscal 2017, according to Winston Beauchamp, the deputy undersecretary of the Air Force for space.
In the budget proposal released last week, the service did not request an overall change in end strength, but noted that airmen are likely to be shifted between different missions and components, including growing the Air National Guard and Air Force Reserves.
But the Air Force wouldn't be adding any additional airmen to space operations, and instead would focus on ongoing personnel reorganizations, Beauchamp told reporters at the Pentagon Thursday.
"Right now the focus is on making better use of the workforce that we have now and so you'll see efforts like Space Mission Force," he said, referencing the service's reworking of its space wings.
Currently, after operating satellites for several years, airmen move on to other jobs in the space field. Beauchamp said Space Mission Force is an effort to change that, and more closely integrate junior officers and enlisted personnel who are operating the satellites with more senior airmen who have years of experience.
"It will ensure that you have folks with the appropriate experience on the operational staff should problems arise and it better develops the core workforce overtime," he said.
The Space Mission Force is also looking to set up teams that would serve shifts of deployments. That way, Beauchamp said, there would be a marked "on" time when the team would be in charge of the space mission, and an "off" time when they could focus on further training.
The Air Force could also shift some of its satellite systems over to the private sector, he said.
"You'll also see efforts at looking for the potential to outsource the operations of some systems that are analogous to commercial capabilities, like [satellite communications], and that would give you the opportunity to repurpose those airmen," Beauchamp said.
As far as pay, however, Beauchamp said he's "not aware of any space specific retention bonus programs at this point" for the fiscal 2017 budget.
