That only adds more stress for airmen already trying to find people to pay their bills, water their plants or care for their pets while they’re gone, Miller said.

The service has traditionally asked units to pack their pre-deployment training - spanning a dozen subjects from cross-cultural communication to survival techniques - into the final month before they leave. Each step lasts six months, meaning units would ideally go more than a year between combat deployments. One-fourth of the Air Force will be in each phase at any given time. Lead wing plan for Air Force deployments takes shape at nine bases The cyclical “force generation” process rotates through four phases: “reset,” “prepare,” “ready” and “available to commit.” That formally began service-wide on Oct. Charles “CQ” Brown Jr.’s plan to move the service from its longtime expeditionary deployment model - which for years has provided forces to commanders around the globe nonstop but hurt training, crew rest and airmen’s home lives - to a more methodical approach. Ready Airman Training is part of Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. “We’ve recognized now that we really should not have that as our approach,” he added.

“We have them ready to deploy … in a ‘just-in-time’ fashion.” Albert Miller, the service’s training and readiness director, told Air Force Times in an exclusive interview Sept. “We’ve had a very stable and manageable approach to … deployments,” Maj. Officials hope it will make airmen more flexible and effective in the long run. 1, aims to build a solid foundation of field knowledge for the next era of combat. That plan, which formally took effect Oct.

Air combat maneuvers video