MAXWELL AIR FORCE BASE, Ala. -- Editor’s note: “We are The 908th” is a 16 part series, running biweekly, detailing the workings of the various units in the 908th Airlift Wing. This is part 16, giving insight on the 908th’s Wing Staff Agencies.
The 908th Airlift Wing’s staff agencies consist of several sections organized directly under the wing. These sections provide command management, critical support, and a wide variety of services to everyone in the wing. The agencies work directly for the wing commander, vice wing commander and the command chief.
The wing staff has more than 50 members divided into 12 sections that perform very specific functions for the wing and the Airmen of the 908th AW, including the Chaplains section, the Command Post section, the Safety section, the Inspector General section, the Financial Management section, the Judge Advocate General section, the Equal Opportunity section, the Continuous Process Improvement section, the Psychological Health section, the Historian section, and the Public Affairs section.
The Chaplains section provides religious support to every member of the wing.
The Command Post is the primary command and control facility for the wing.
The Wing Safety office combines the disciplines of flight, ground, and weapons safety to prevent and respond to mishaps that impact the mission, the people, or the equipment. They do so by acting as field consultants and technical experts, providing professional safety guidance, performing inspections and evaluations, and conducting trend analysis.
The Inspector General function is twofold. First, it oversees the wing’s complaints and Fraud, Waste & Abuse programs. As its primary charge, the IG ensures a viable, responsive complaints program characterized by fairness, integrity, and impartiality. Secondly, it assesses unit readiness through a combination of wing wide exercises and the wing’s self-inspection program. In this regard, it’s also responsible for planning, executing, and evaluating exercise scenarios in order to provide wing leadership a site picture of the wing’s response capability.
The Financial management section conducts and manages the financial business of the wing, maximizing resources, and delivering premier financial management services to the wing and its members.
The Staff Judge Advocate section provides legal advice and support to wing members to include potential disciplinary actions, wills, powers of attorney, claims, and other legal assistance.
The Equal Opportunity section provides education and training, human relations education, administers and analyzes climate assessments, assists commanders in identifying and removing EO barriers, provides complaint services and subject matter advice, and administers the Negotiation and Dispute Resolution program to efficiently resolve workplace disputes and conflict.
The Continuous Process Improvement section enables all Airmen to eliminate waste and maximize customer value through the application of several widely accepted process improvement methodologies.
The Psychological Health section and Air Force Reserve Directors of Psychological Health’s goal is to utilize education, knowledge, training and expertise to increase individual, unit, and Wing readiness to help Airmen and their families maximize psychological health, resilience and well-being.
The Historian section maintains a library and repository of historical information for the Wing. The historians are responsible for compiling an annual wing history, documenting deployments, maintenance operations, service support, changes of command, new inventories, outstanding unit awards, and lineage and honors.
The Public Affairs section is tasked with keeping the wing members, the public and the news media informed about the 908th Airlift Wing. It manages the command information, community relations, and media relations programs for the wing.
Thank you for joining us throughout this past year to learn more about the 908th Airlift Wing in this 16 part series. We hope you enjoyed it and we look forward to finding new and exciting ways to tell the stories of the amazing Airmen of the 908th Airlift Wing, Alabama’s only reserve wing, which happens to be the premiere tactical airlift wing in the Air Force. Happy Holidays.
Located at Maxwell Air Force Base and operating a fleet of nine C-130H Hercules cargo aircraft, the 908th is Alabama’s only Air Force Reserve wing. The wing has approximately 1,200 Reserve Citizen Airmen, serving in more than 20 career fields, with Air Reserve Technicians, civilian employees and Reservists on active duty tours conducting day-to-day operations.