Split Training Option Flight: They're not a forgotten force

  • Published
  • By Maj. Rich Curry
  • 507th ARW Public Affairs
Tinker AFB, Okla. --  Two years ago, Air Force Reserve Command initiated a new program for non-prior service recruits entering military service. 

That program, called the Split Training Option, evolved as a result of the lack of available technical school training positions for recruits coming out of basic training. 

According to Chief Master Sgt. Alfonzo Garza, 507th Senior Recruiter,  “A major factor facing us is that there are fewer fully qualified prior service people available to recruit. All the reserve component services are faced with a larger percentage of new enlistments
being non-prior individuals. 

Currently, we’re averaging roughly 30 to 40 percent of new recruits who are non-prior service. And that puts an increased workload on all the military tech schools.” 

“Prior to the STO program,” Chief Garza said, “our recruiters worked to ‘time’ a recruit’s entry date to basic training to ensure there was an immediate follow opening at a technical school afterwards. This caused us to recruit people with longer and longer delayed enlistment dates. It’s much more difficult to get a recruit to join in the Reserve if they know they have to wait months before they can start. 

“The Reserve’s STO program changed that,” Chief Garza said. “Now we can keep the people coming to fill unit vacancies.” 

But for those participating in the STO program, military service back at the unit after basic training presents unique challenges. According to Capt. Jeffrey White, STO Program Manager, most of those awaiting tech schools only have a one to two month wait.  "However, we do have people who are faced with a six month or longer wait for a tech school opening.” 

“The question becomes: ‘What do STO flight members do during drill weekends while they’re waiting?” he said. 

Without technical training, STO members may not work in their primary career field, but rather are assigned to the wing’s STO Flight. “We can’t allow untrained people to work on military equipment or in their primary career fields,” Captain White said. To date, roughly 10 people have gone through the unit STO process in the past two years. 

“Because we’re now seeing people with longer delay times, we realized there was a need to take a more formalized approach for our STO training program,” Captain White said. 

“The Air Force Reserve provides some generalized guidance and recommendations on how to conduct a local STO program, but we saw there were some gaps that we could fill,” he said. 

“Today, the focus on the unit’s STO program is to keep the participants ‘blued.’ We focus on providing continuing training. STO members receive discussions on topics such as Core Values and how they impact our daily lives. They are helped to set up personal Air Force Computer Based Training accounts for continuous education. They also receive the annual mandatory training and briefings such as Law of Armed Conflict, Suicide Prevention, or Self Aid Buddy Care. 

“Every STO participant has different needs, depending on how long they have to wait for their follow-on training,” Captain White said. “What we’ve done is to incorporate Air Force Reserve Command guidance and then set up individual training paths for each STO participant.” White identified the mandatory requirements and “good to have” training needs and incorporated those into an STO handbook and an informational web-based CD, which is given to each participant as they enter the program. A 507th ARW Operating Instruction governing the STO program is also currently being staffed. 

“No two training programs will be the same,” he said. “We identified those requirements that are mandatory and try to accomplish those first. If a member has to stay with us for a longer period, we try to help them accomplish other training we feel will be beneficial to them and their eventual supervisors.” 

“We wanted to make sure the STO members kept their focus on their careers and at the same time to eventually provide a better member for the unit,” he said. Now, the captain said, as the STO members exit the unit program for their technical school, they will receive a copy of an Air Force Form 623a, on-the-job training record supplemental sheet, that they will be able to present to their future supervisors when they return to the unit. "I think we all realize how important that first impression of our unit really is to these newcomers. Potentially each of these people may become future leaders and we’d like to give them a good start in that direction and make sure they didn’t become a forgotten force,” Captain White said.