Story by SSgt Jonathan Bass on 08/27/2019

The Honorable Shon J. Manasco, Headquarters Air Force assistant secretary of the Air Force for manpower and reserve affairs, visited Ramstein Air Base, Germany, Aug. 21-22.

Manasco spoke to Airmen about the new officer promotion system and learned about how Ramstein Airmen accomplish the mission.

Manasco hosted a town hall where he explained the new Officer Development Categories and answered company and field-grade officer's questions about how the new promotion system will affect their careers.

"We have been engaging with the leaders at CORONA about how it is we maximize officer development going forward," Manasco said. "We've done a lot of really good work in the Air Force of laying out the Air Force we need, to deliver what the National Defense Strategy asks of us."

The new system streamlines line officer promotions by segregating officer AFSCs into similar promotion categories. In these brackets, officers compete for promotion. The new system aligns officer AFSCs into one of six categories: Air Operations and Special Warfare, Space Operations, Nuclear and Missile Operations, Information Warfare, Combat Support, and Force Modernization. Each category will have a developmental competitive pathway that is optimized for that category.

Manasco added that the new system came as a result of the Air Force asking the question, "What do we need to be doing today to make sure that in the future we can field the absolute best team possible?"

In addition to the town hall, Manasco toured units on Ramstein, learning about how work is affected by manpower shortages.

Staff Sgt. Sarah Gray, 86th Aerospace Medicine Squadron en-route patient staging facility technician, briefed Manasco on how the ERPS team works 365 days a year, moving patients from Landstuhl Regional Medical Center, Landstuhl, Germany, to Ramstein, and then onto a flight back to the continental states.

Manasco and his team gained valuable insight into the issues facing Ramstein Airmen and their career concerns.