Security Forces airmen have increasingly since operations began in Southwest Asia served on six-month deployments in which they work outside bases, providing protection for VIPs to Provincial Reconstruction Teams. Those airmen on VIP watch, known as Personal Security Details, work “quite literally a 24/7 job,” said TSgt. Robert Winner, the Combined Security Transition Command-Afghanistan PSD shift leader for Army Maj. Gen. Richard Formica, who heads CSTC-A. He added, “It isn’t rare for us to work 20-hour shifts; you have to be ready to roll when the call comes in.” The airmen typically train for a month before embarking on a six-month rotation, said SSgt. Erika Gonzales, who leads the PSD force for Army Brig. Gen. Ann MacDonald, the CSTC-A assistant commander for Afghan National Police Development. Winner noted that the Army does the training at stateside facilities. (Afghanistan report by SSgt. Stacia Zachary)
Lloyd Austin, President-elect Joe Biden’s pick to lead the Pentagon, spent his Senate confirmation hearing on Jan. 19 pressing his civilian bona fides to lawmakers, with some pledging opposition to the waiver Austin would need to become the nation’s first Black Defense Secretary. Austin spent 40 years in the military…