Readiness begins with Force Support

Deploying mission-ready Citizen Airmen is nothing new to the 349^th Air Mobility Wing. But before boots are on the ground, or tanker gas is passed, a great investment of time and effort is made by many people across the wing. Perhaps more than anywhere else, the 349^th Force Support Squadron plays a central role in helping Airmen achieve and maintain personal readiness.

“Every person in the wing starts here,” said Maj. Susan Labrecque, 349^th FSS commander. “We touch them first at in-processing, and serve them throughout their careers.”

When Airmen are cared for, so is the mission. Ironically, whether it’s the military personnel section, lodging, fitness testing, systems operations, the Airman and Family Readiness Center, or the dining facility, the services provided by force support squadrons are sometimes taken for granted. Yet if those services disappeared, readiness would quickly suffer.

“We really need to take care of Airmen and our mission, and that starts here at the FSS,” said Labrecque. “If we don’t do our jobs well, we can hurt someone’s career, as well as readiness. For example, if a promotion doesn’t get processed efficiently, it can cause problems for an Airman who has worked hard for the stripe. Likewise, if a deployment tasking required an Airman with a higher rank, then the wing would have fallen short.”

With about 131 Airmen and Air Force civilian employees to serve more than 2,700 wing members, plus retirees and active duty customers, the 349^th FSS faces a tall order. In fact, the customer service section alone served 9,182 customers in FY 2016. Nevertheless, Labrecque remains confident her Airmen are up to the task, because they do it every day; sometimes in the spotlight, but mostly behind the scenes.

One of those Airmen is Airman 1^st Class Christopher Bongcaron. He’s only been a customer service personnelist for about a year, but on any given duty day he’s knee deep in important “paperwork” that helps Airmen remain ready for deployment.

“We do a lot of stuff,” said Bongcaron during a recent unit training assembly. “We update the Military Personnel Data System for newborns, marriages and other family changes. We make common access cards for reservists, active duty, retirees and civilians, and we update the Defense Enrollment Eligibility Reporting System, just to name a few things.”

Bongcaron admits the volume and pace of the work can be stressful, but he likes the challenge. His customers, like Lt. Col. Ben Bjerk, 349^th Operations Group, appreciate the customer service section’s support.

“It’s critical they’re here on UTAs,” said Bjerk. “I don’t know what we’d do without them. They do an outstanding job supporting the mission, and I’m grateful for their work.”

While most people associate the military personnel section, lodging and dining with the force support mission, the 349^th FSS includes an element that is typically part of a communications squadron; Systems Operations.

Like the rest of their squadron, “systems ops” serves everyone in the wing in some way. With a relatively small staff of 38 people, Senior Master Sgt. Andy Piehl, the wing’s chief of cyber operations, provides everything from phones to secured network, token cards and Freedom of Information Act support.

“We’re divided in four parts,” said Piehl, “Client Systems, which provides Help Desk services, the Knowledge Management Center, which covers records management, a mail center, and Information Technology Requirements, which helps acquire and install new technologies.”

Like his commander, Piehl understands how failing in seemingly small ways can compromise the readiness of the organization, so he works hard to keep his people well trained and equipped.

“A computer is actually a tool Airmen need to do their jobs and maintain readiness, so while we sometimes take that technology for granted, we can’t forget our responsibility to provide the tools and services they need,” said Piehl.