Photo By Airman 1st Class Asha Wiltshire | U.S. Air Force Staff Sgt. Kyle Cooper, 325th Logistics Readiness Squadron unit...... read more read more
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TYNDALL AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. – Every Airman will be eligible for deployment at one point in their career. Unit deployment managers oversee all administrative functions required for members in their unit to support operations away from home station. UDMs work with leadership and Airmen to ensure that the selection and predeployment operations go as seamlessly as possible.
UDMs play a crucial role in managing the deployment process, tracking personnel readiness and facilitating the deployment of the right people at the right time to support the mission. They review deployment taskings received from higher headquarters, in Tyndall’s case, Air Combat Command, and match eligible personnel to the taskings based on rank, skill level and availability.
“Being a UDM is fulfilling because it’s nice to be able to assist someone with questions and help them to get out the door to deploy,” said Staff Sgt. Kyle Cooper, 325 Logistics Readiness Squadron UDM. “It’s different from my primary Air Force Specialty Code, vehicle maintenance, because [in] this job I see a lot more of a direct impact to the mission.”
When an Airman is classified as nondeployable, UDMs address the issues that are preventing them from being able to deploy, such as medical needs or training deficiencies, in order to get them back to a deployable status.
Upon return, UDMs also handle the in-processing, working alongside Installation Personnel Readiness to issue a checklist of what the Airman needs. Some checklist objectives include medical evaluations, deployment gear return and meeting with finance and command support staff, all of these tasks help to facilitate a smooth return and addresses any needs those troops might need.
The 325th Fighter Wing prioritizes Airmen staying “greened up”, which is a common phrase that refers to tasks highlighted with the color green to signify that it is complete, even when they are not set to deploy in the foreseeable future. The impact of UDMs making sure that all Airmen remain ready to deploy and stay updated on trainings is crucial to the 325th FW mission.
“The wing commander wants everyone to be ready to deploy at a moment’s notice,” stated Tech. Sgt. Amos Gray, 325th Comptroller Squadron quality assurance manager. “We try to have the Airmen complete all the trainings in advance so that we can be ready at all times.”
Typically, UDM is a special billet that substitutes one’s primary duties for a set amount of time. However, in certain cases, the job of a UDM can be an additional duty assigned to them in addition to their primary job. This is the case for Gray, who serves an additional role as the UDM for the 325th CPTS and Wing Staff Agencies.
UDMs conduct monthly reports on deployable and non-deployable personnel, keeping leadership up-to-date on readiness status and ensuring Airmen are current on their training, even when they’re not tasked with deploying.
“As a UDM our job is to deploy Airmen,” said Gray. “When it comes to balancing both [of my] duties, [my] UDM duties are priority because the mission and readiness must always come first.”
| Date Taken: | 08.27.2024 |
| Date Posted: | 09.05.2024 15:17 |
| Story ID: | 480178 |
| Location: | TYNDALL AIR FORCE BASE, FLORIDA, US |
| Web Views: | 31 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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