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Show HILLTOP TIMES T 4 TIME March 13, 2014 DOD's top enlisted leader honors ACC Airmen, families lenges the nation faces will affect the armed forces as well. "It shows us from multiple perspectives that war, through all phases, comes with a cost," he said. "We have some state-of-the-art equipment and technology that has allowed our forces to not only defeat our enemy ... but prevent and avoid engagement partly because of advanced technology." Battaglia said he uses "freedom is not free" means that keeping adversaries out of reach comes with a monetary cost to supply operational forces. But more importantly, he said, freedom comes with a human cost: the lives of service members who gallantly have given their full devotion. With the sacrifices of those serving over the last 13 years, Battaglia said, "no dollar amount can be placed to that price." "It is one of the sacrifices that every one of you who have sworn the oath carries with you each day," he added. "On any given day, you are prepared to support and defend [it] at all costs." Battaglia acknowledged more than 90 award nominees "who have gone the full mile, and a handful within that group who happened to go even a little further." "All of them," he said, are "honorable in their actions and courageous in their hearts. They are the members of our team who have set a fine example [with] not only their past performance, but rather their future potential." BY ARMY SGT. 1ST CLASS TYRONE C. MARSHALL JR. American Forces Press Service JOINT BASE LANGLEY-EUSTIS — The military's top enlisted leader praised service members and their families at Joint Base Langley-Eustis, Va., March 7 for their professionalism, flexibility and tenacity during a time of impending change for the Defense Department. Marine Corps Sgt. Maj. Bryan B. Battaglia, senior enlisted advisor to the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, spoke during Air Combat Command's annual awards dinner, where he lauded troops for their service and their families for their unwavering commitment. "I just want to say how tremendously proud we are of the service members and civilian workforce that comprise our total force," he said. Also, Battaglia said, it takes a very special family to endure the frequent and lengthy separations and household moves inherent in military life, especially while shouldering hardships awaiting the return of loved ones. "We hope you share our excitement and pride that our military family is the heart and soul of our force," he said, leading a round of applause for military spouses in attendance. While families are the military's heart and soul, the sergeant major said, "our serving men and women stand tall as the center of gravity." "Despite the impend- MASS COMMUNICATION SPECIALIST 1ST CLASS DANIEL HINTON/Department of Defense Senior Enlisted Advisor to the Chairman Sgt. Maj. Bryan B. Battaglia holds town hall with Airmen from Joint Base Langley-Eustis on March 7. ing changes to our force," he said, alluding to uncertainty in the defense budget and the nation's transition from a 13-year wartime footing. "We'll forge through it and adapt to upgrades and modernization. It may sting, but we shoulder a duty and responsibility to our country and its citizens." Some areas of change, such as pay and compensation, may take a little longer to return to normal than others, Battaglia said, but the military's leaders hope to do this just once. "Our professionalism, tenacity and moral obligation will see us through," he said. "We can never forget that we are a loyal, patriotic and professional organization our society respects and admires, and an organization that many nations, in fact, envy" The senior enlisted advisor said each service member — no matter their rank or status — has attained the credentials and privilege to proudly wear the uniform, earning their coveted title of soldier, sailor, airman or Marine. He said it is "professionally humbling" and that he feels "very fortunate" leading and representing a force of more than 2 million enlisted men and women — active duty, Reserve and National Guard — and their families. Battaglia provided an overview of the challenges that lie ahead for the department, troops and their families. "It should be no surprise to anyone here that as we have returned forces from Iraq and continue to methodically redeploy forces from Afghanistan, we are also restructuring and reshaping our total force," Battaglia said. "Like we have after every major conflict, readjustment in personnel and equipment comes as part of that post-conflict cycle." While the armed forces may be leaner tomorrow than they are today, Battaglia said, they will remain ready, relevant, trained, poised and postured to meet any emergent requirement as the president directs to defend the nation. The sergeant major said every service and component will be reshaped in some manner, but there will be a slight build-up in cyber warriors and special operations forces. "You know the capability they bring," Battaglia said. "Cyber is certainly a viable and current challenge to our country's security. Freedom is not free." The sergeant major noted that the fiscal chal- Retention recommendation forms critical for BY DEBBIE GILDEA Air Force Personnel Center Public Affairs JOINT BASE SAN ANTONIO-RANDOLPH, Texas — Commanders and senior raters of enlisted Airmen slated to meet the quality force review board in May or an enlisted retention board in June must complete an AF Form 3538E, Enlisted Retention Recommendation Form, for each eligible Airman, Air Force Personnel Center officials said. Completed forms must be provided to Airmen and submitted to AFPC by April 4 for the QFRB and May 17 for the ERB. The retention recommendation form, although common to the officer retention program, is new to enlisted members, said Will Brown, evaluation and recognition programs branch chief. "Commanders and senior raters who have never completed an RRF for officers may need some guidance on how to complete one," Brown said. "The form is self-explanatory for the most part, but there are sections - like the stratification section - that require commanders to assess their Airmen and rank-order them based on which Airmen have exhibited traits and behaviors that indicate they are suited for retention, so completing the ERRFs will require that commanders and senior raters thoroughly review their Airmen's records." Board-eligible Airman lists have been provided to military personnel sections for distribution to commanders and senior raters, and information about the form and how to complete it is available in the personnel systems delivery memo on myPers. Lists will be periodically updated in the event eligible Airmen are added or removed from the lists. With some exceptions at the major command, combatant command, numbered Air Force and field operating agency levels, recommendation forms for technical sergeants and below will be completed by administrative unit commanders. For senior noncommissioned officers, forms will be completed by the senior rater. The form includes a job description section for duty title and key duties and responsibilities. That information can be pulled from the last enlisted performance report, unless an Airman has changed jobs since the last report, Brown said. In that case, the new supervisor/rater should provide information for the job description section. In addition, the form has a block for mandatory evaluator comments. "This section is limited to three bullets, which should relay to the reten- tion board the unique qualities and skills the Airman possesses and justification for retaining the Airman in the Air Force," Brown explained. For the ERB, cornmanders or senior raters must then "stratify" their Airmen to let board members know how Airmen compare to others in their current Air Force specialty codes and grades, and how they compare to others by grade only. QFRB-eligible Airmen will not be stratified. Stratification means differentiating between very good, good, average and poor performers, based on the whole person concept, he explained. After stratifying an Airman, the commander or senior rater will select the "retain," "consider" or "do not retain" block, print and hand-sign the form, provide each Airman with a copy of his or her form, and submit all forms to the Air Force Personnel Center. Airmen eligible to meet the ERB or QFRB must be provided with a copy of their ERRFs at least 30 days before their board meets, said Brown. That enables Airmen who dispute or have concerns with the comments, ratings or stratification to discuss their concerns with their commander or senior rater. "An Airman may also write a letter directly to the board to address any ERB, QFRB eligibles concerns in his or her record. This correspondence should be focused on factual information, rather than opinion or emotion, and the letter is limited to one page, so information must be very clear and specific," Brown said. Airmen slated to meet the ERB or QFRB can find more information about the program and the ERRF on the myPers website. Go to httpsi/mypers.af.mil and enter "FY14 Force Management Programs." Once on the FM page, scroll down to the enlisted only programs section and re- view the documents linked there. Denied VA Compensation or Social Security Disabilit ? We specialize in Call m e Ban Law Office Joel Ban Social Security Accredited VA Attorney helping Veterans at all levels of the Appeal Process. 170 S. 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