An official website of the United States government
A .mil website belongs to an official U.S. Department of Defense organization in the United States.
A lock (lock ) or https:// means you’ve safely connected to the .mil website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.

New squadron to activate at Scott

  • Published
  • By 375th Mission Support Group
  • 375th MSG
SCOTT AIR FORCE BASE, Ill. --  Base personnel, community support, and quality of life programs all enable combat power by providing critical services to our military personnel, civilian work force, and their families. Soon these vital functions supporting Team Scott will fall under a new organization, the 375th Force Support Squadron. This new unit will activate April 3 and will integrate the 375th Mission Support Squadron and 375th Services Squadron as a result of mission support and services functional area mergers Air Force-wide. The merger includes all active duty and Reserve organizations and is expected to be completed by early 2010. 

Commanded by Maj. Billeye Juarez, the 375th FSS will consist of the following five flights: Force Development, Manpower and Personnel, Airmen and Family Services, Sustainment Services and Community Services. This new structure combines similar functional areas from the mission support and services squadrons that always worked closely together. 

"This is basically a behind-the-scenes change that will be transparent to most Scott Airmen," said Major Juarez. "If someone needs to get an ID card or go to the Education Center, in most cases, that person will still go to the same location they're familiar with today, but our base will have an organizational structure in place to support our Airmen more effectively and efficiently. In preparation, we'll be doing extensive publicity about the merger, to include changes to service location and phone number changes that will occur." 

"Because we're a leaner force, we need to focus on getting our people and organizations to operate at maximum efficiency," said Major Juarez. "This reorganization puts Scott's manpower, personnel and services capabilities under virtually one hat, which reduces overhead and gives our people the flexibility to be more responsive to customers' needs." 

Six Air Force bases across six commands were selected in early 2008 to test the new squadron model. The test bases--Edwards Air Force Base, Calif., Eielson AFB, Alaska, FE Warren AFB, Wyo., Grand Forks AFB, N.D., Laughlin AFB, Texas and Minot AFB, N.D.,--helped establish where specific responsibilities and processes should reside within the organization and their subsequent configuration. 

"The 375th Force Support Squadron will help streamline various military and personnel processes, leverage customer service capability and cut costs associated with maintaining separate organizations," said Maj. Tim Sites, 375th Services Squadron commander. "The end of test reports from the test site commanders and directors indicate that this merger has not been without its challenges," said Major Sites. "They had to re-establish lines of communication, move some people around and overcome cultural differences between the functions. Even with the difficulties we're already seeing the benefits of combining these assets." 

Major Juarez agreed, citing the new Force Development Flight as another example of the positive changes coming. "The new Force Development Flight Chief is responsible for all education, training, library, professional development and professional military education. It's advantageous for Scott to have one person overseeing and integrating the learning opportunities for all of us." 

According to Senior Master Sgt. Cheryl Henry, Base Individual Mobilization Augmentee Administrator, the "Individual Ready Reserve members currently receiving personnel support from the 375th MSS will continue to be supported under the 375th FSS construct since the BIMAA office functions as base-level advisors on Reserve matters." 

However, according to Senior Master Sgt. Teresa Ray, 932nd Military Personnel Flight superintendent, "At this time, USAFR serviced by the 932nd MPF will not be affected by this change." 

While there will be a new organization in place of what once was the Mission Support and Services squadrons at Scott, one thing will not change. The dedicated people of this newly merged unit will continue doing their best to support Team Scott and provide first-class service to all their customers. 

For more information on the new FSS at Scott, contact Patricia Dorsey at 256-3478.