feature

Unit Spotlight on 5th Manpower Requirements Squadron

  • Published
  • By Kandis West
  • Tinker Air Force Base Public Affairs
TINKER AIR FORCE BASE --  Realignments, transformation and shaping the workforce to better support warfighter needs seems to be a recurrent theme Air Force wide and the 5th Manpower Requirements Squadron plays a direct role in making these changes.
   "Using complex equations, we measure what people do to determine how many people it takes to do a job," said Staff Sgt. Joseph Overly, 5th MRS manpower analyst.
   The squadron accomplishes this mission by conducting studies to ensure total force effectiveness and efficiency. During these studies, squadron members create manpower models to determine the size needed for the work center.
   Maj. Aaron Watson, 5th MRS commander, said unlike personnel, Manpower determines the Air Force Specialty Code, grade and whether a civilian or an active duty member is required for the job.
   Simply put, Sgt. Overly said, "We deal with spaces, not faces."
   Formerly, the Air Force Manpower Agency at Randolph Air Force Base, Texas, was responsible for all manning needs across the Air Force. Now that funding is tighter, Sgt. Overly said, the agency needs more field operating agencies to produce more accurate numbers.
   "In the last five to 10 years, the Air Force had gotten away from the process of having to determine how large work centers should be," the commander said.
   AFMA now has five regionally based squadrons across the Air Force Material Command. The 5th MRS, a fully-activated field operating agency, arrived at Tinker in Jan. 2006.
   With a team of 23 Airmen and 14 civilians, the squadron is responsible for performing studies on 38 Air Force-wide organizations and 13 AFMC organizations.
   The squadron recently completed a management advisory study for the Federal Aviation Administration at Will Roger's World Airport and gave recommendations that could cut $50,000 a year in training cost.
   Sgt. Overly said their job is especially important during war time. They determine how many people are needed for wartime taskings, and they also have to ensure that home-stations requirements are met when airmen deploy.
   Some other changes have been made in the way requirements are determined.
   "Before, manpower requirements were determined by AFSC, now it's by function," Sgt. Overly said.
   He said essentially they look at what the jobs seeks to achieve, then check to see if any functions need to be combined, eliminated or added and then they determine the manpower requirements.
   Sgt. Overly said that Manpower is now command-based, and major commands have a bigger role in deciding how things get done.
   He also said the new process takes deployments into consideration.
   "You may get an extra person if your unit deploys often," Sgt. Overly said.
   Squadron officials agree that the change is good.
   Maj. Watson said the changes help better determine Total Force manpower requirements in order to more efficiently execute Air Force expeditionary, wartime and in-garrison operations.
   "We make it easier for the warfighter to go to war," Sgt. Overly said.