Special duties now require commander nomination Published July 25, 2013 By Staff Sgt. Melissa B. White 36th Wing Public Affairs ANDERSEN AIR FORCE BASE, Guam -- Airmen looking to expand their careers with special duties now have to follow new guidance released by Air Force officials July 16. Effective immediately, the new process requires unit commanders to nominate individuals they deem appropriate to fulfill the positions while meeting stringent requirements versus the old system where interested members volunteered themselves by submitting applications. "The bottom line is commanders, chiefs and supervisors know their people," said Master Sgt. Cameron Leslie, 36th Force Support Squadron career assistance advisor. "They are more engaged with their Airmen than those stationed elsewhere. They get the opportunity to put their people up based on a working relationship rather than simply reviewing an application package." The 10 special duties impacted by this new process include career assistance advisor, military training instructor, military training leader, U.S. Air Force Academy military training, Airman and Family Readiness Center NCO, first sergeant, Air Force Honor Guard NCO, recruiter, professional military education instructor, and "T" prefix jobs such as technical training instructor. These duties are now referred to as developmental special duties because the individuals filling the positions play key roles in mentoring and influencing young Airmen from the start of their enlistments and as they progress through their careers. "In my initial letter to Airmen I spoke about the importance of deliberate development," said Chief Master Sgt. of the Air Force James Cody in an email to Airmen last week. "We've been looking at the development of each of you from the training, education and experience perspectives. The focus of this specific effort looked at ensuring we have the right enlisted Airmen in the right special duties both inside and outside their primary career fields. These positions have been designated as 'developmental special duties.'" Major commands will be given a quota that needs to be filled twice a year in March and September. Once the quota is established, unit commanders will nominate their best Airmen to fill the DSD. Each nominated individual will be vectored into three DSDs commanders think they will fulfill the best. The individual is then required to fill out the application within 45 days of nomination and will be notified through normal assignment procedures via Virtual Military Personnel Flight. It is not guaranteed every nominee will be selected for an assignment, and that individual will remain eligible for subsequent nominations. "The fact is, these are now nominative positions," Leslie said. "I would recommend making it clear to your supervision that you are interested in pursuing a developmental special duty. However, it is equally (if not) more important to focus on being the type of Airman that your supervision would want to nominate as well." In order to be eligible for any of the duties, an Airman must have scored at least an 80 percent or higher on their last two physical fitness assessments or a 90 percent or higher on the most recent one, with no failures in any category. They must also have an overall rating of five on their last three enlisted performance reports and no record of disciplinary action resulting in an Article 15 for unfavorable information file for the past three years, according to the new program guidance. Nominated Airmen must also have a Community College of the Air Force degree or be within 12 months of completing it. For more information on DSDs or other Air Force career development opportunities, contact the Andersen Air Force Base's career assistance advisor at 366-7829.