BEALE AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. –
Giving Airmen good choices and keeping their experience in the Air Force is why 940th Air Refueling Wing chiefs and supervisors had a BRAC job fair at Beale Air Force Base, Calif., April 15, 2007 for Airmen who will be displaced when the unit's KC-135 mission ends next year. Although there are excellent existing programs for BRAC-affected personnel, 940th leadership wanted to do all they could for their people, said Chief Master Sgt. Stu Bisland, 940th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron superintendent.
"We're family here - we want to provide everyone with as many good options as possible. We don't want to lose the tankers, but it's going to happen, so we need to take care of our people the best we can," he said.
"This was a joint effort by maintenance, operations, the military personnel flight and recruiters," said Chief Master Sgt. Sue Voelker, Logistics Superintendent with the 940th Maintenance Operations Flight. "I'm really happy with the turnout and the great attitude of our people," she said.
Leadership recognizes the difficulty in changing jobs and missions, so the job fair was intended to help smooth the process. The face-to-face aspect of a job fair was a key objective for the event.
"We felt giving our people the opportunity to talk to other Airmen one-on-one was going to make the prospect of finding a new job a little less scary," said Senior Master Sgt., Charisse Williamson, flight management superintendent for the 314th Air Refueling Squadron.
"This is especially true for our younger troops, who don't have as much experience in the system. For them, the job fair helped break the ice," she said.
"Helping our people find jobs will mean one less stress, so they can continue to focus on the mission," said Col. Melvin "Sonny" Giddings, commander of the 940th Maintenance Group.
The realignment is part of the 2005 Base Realignment and Closure Commission recommended, which directed the Air Force to move the 940th's eight KC-135 Stratotankers to other Air Force units by the end of September 2008. Beale's reserve expeditionary combat support elements will remain in place. The recommendation became law in November 2005.