TINKER AIR FORCE BASE, Okla. — The window of opportunity has arrived to take advantage of, a workforce development program. Individuals in GS-12, GS-13 and equivalent logistics positions are encouraged to apply.
Meant to establish a pool for future leadership positions, the program allows senior leaders to provide applicants with guidance towards the right training to help them become better leaders and achieve goals.
“It’s all about taking control of your own career, learning everything you can about how to make yourself more marketable and growing yourself beyond the Center into other areas of the command,” Chief of Workforce Development Belinda Woods said.
A “call” for participants went out Aug. 28 with final materials due Oct. 9.
Applicants fill out a form with short- and long-term goals and the education and experience they already have.
Then, their supervisor will write a statement about them and a senior leader needs to endorse them with a statement about where they see the applicant going in their career.
Applications then go to a panel of GS-14 and GS-15 senior leaders, who review them and send back letters with feedback, suggested educational opportunities and recommendations for job experience to pursue to meet those career goals.
Chris Fellows, a workforce development program manager for the Air Force Sustainment Center Logistics Directorate, said there are more than 7,000 individuals in logistics positions in the Air Force Sustainment Center alone, with close to 43,000 Air Force-wide.
Fellows said the process allows GS-12s and GS-13s individualized advice to succeed in their career from senior logisticians. When it comes down to it, he said, it is about investing in people.
“When we’re talking about workforce development in general, it’s all about trying to build the talent pool and work with high-potential employees to develop them and that creates your best candidates for leading the Air Force in the future,” Fellows said.
“That just has benefits for the overall mission. The better trained, equipped (and) the better educated the workforce is, the better off the overall mission for the Air Force becomes.”
Woods said some people are concerned the process requires them to be geographically mobile, but it does not. However, it helps to be willing to move to another organization on base.
As well as providing career direction, the process informs applicants about educational opportunities that can further them as leaders and supervisors.
Fellows, who has been through the process himself, said the educational opportunities are often highly competitive, and participating in Vectoring allows individuals to get their name in with senior leaders.
“You’re allowing senior leaders to take a hard look at you before those applications come up,” Fellows said.
Woods said the process allows individuals to gain “breadth of experience.”
“Rather than staying in one type of job for a long time, this is an opportunity to understand the variety of jobs that are available to you and which ones are going to help broaden your experience in a beneficial way,” Woods said.
