Merging forces to support and survive Published July 5, 2007 By Staff Sgt. Amanda Callahan 319th Air Refueling Wing Public Affairs GRAND FORKS AIR FORCE BASE, N.D. -- As part of Air Force Smart Operations for the 21st Century, the survival equipment and life support career fields merged Air Mobility Command wide July 1. The two career fields' duties overlap and worked together to such an extent that the merger was an easy decision as part of the Air Force Chief of Staff's initiative to streamline the force. "We will continue to explore ways to balance our career fields and reduce the number of existing AFSCs to better meet the needs of the 21st Century," said Gen. T. Michael Moseley, CSAF, in his CSAF Vector newsletter. "We can flatten our existing personnel structure and cluster similar AFSCs into expeditionary groupings focused primarily on combat duties." "We've always worked together," added Master Sgt. Ronald Ruzek, aircrew flight equipment flight chief. "You can't have one without the other. Now, we'll be working under one big umbrella to get the job done." "The current barriers of communication will be eliminated," said Tech. Sgt. Yancey Callahan, NCO in charge of survival equipment. "That should increase the productivity of both shops." As with most changes, the merger will not occur without obstacles, though. "Training will be a big challenge," Sergeant Callahan added. "We're using cross-utilization training instead of formal training, which means we have to train while continuing to support our current high [operational] tempo." After everyone is trained, one person can replace the two people currently being deployed to perform the job, said Sergeant Callahan. "It will reduce the deployment tempo," he said. "And it will decrease the number of tasks that both shops currently perform that are the same across the two career fields while deployed and at home." Currently, the survival equipment shop falls under the 319th Maintenance Group. As of July 1, they will become part of the 319th Operations Group with life support. However, the two shops will remain physically separated. "The separation will still be a challenge, especially with the training aspect," Sergeant Ruzek said. "Face-to-face contact between supervisors and Airmen is really underrated. The opportunity for feedback, up and down the chain, is reduced. It's really important to have the personal contact to mold our young Airmen." However, some young Airmen in the survival shop may have a different sort of feedback after the merger. "We'll be a lot more involved with the aircrew," said Sergeant Callahan. "They [survival equipment personnel] will be able to see the fruits of their labor," added Sergeant Ruzek. "They'll meet the people that actually use the equipment they've been working on all these years." In addition to a morale booster, the merge offers a more efficient means to complete the mission, according to Sergeant Callahan. "One thing I've noticed at every base I've been to is the 'friendly rivalry' between life support and survival equipment," said Sergeant Ruzek. "A lot of that rivalry will be gone since we all fall under the same AFSC [Air Force Specialty Code], AFIs [Air Force Instructions] and the same tech data." "It will take time and patience, but a year from now, we'll be running smoothly," Sergeant Ruzek commented. "We'll be one big, happy family."