Air Force civilians voted the Air Force the 13th best place to work in 2012 among the federal government’s large agencies, up five spots compared to 2011. The rating is based on the non-partisan, non-profit Partnership for Public Service’s annual survey of employee satisfaction and commitment across 362 federal agencies and subcomponents. As was the case last year, the Air Force finished slightly behind the Navy, which ended up in 10th place in 2012 (up from 15th place in 2011.) Unlike last year, the Air Force finished ahead of the Army, which occupies the 14th spot (up from 16th place in 2011). This year’s survey of nearly 700,000 civil servants measured factors including: effective leadership, employee skills and mission match, pay, teamwork; and work-life balance. NASA came in first among the large agencies; the Homeland Security Department was last.
The Air Force’s nascent KC-Z program, aimed at developing a next-generation family of systems for aerial refueling, will look to launch its analysis-of-alternatives study in 2024, years earlier than originally planned. Originally, the analysis of alternatives for KC-Z was set for “maybe in the 2030s,” Paul Waugh, program executive officer…