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Squadron Commanders Find Duties That Are Not Recognized and Not Resourced Appropriately Can Interfere with Mission Performance

• Commanders expressed concerns regarding addressing multiple taskers and administrative duties.
• Speaking of the burden of "additional duties," commanders often are not referencing the responsibilities the Air Force officially designates as additional duties. Rather, they are often referring to other duties they recognize as being necessary to maintain the squadron but for which they believe they do not have sufficient resources.

Commander Preparation Can Vary, and Commanders Want More Information on Elements of How to Command

• Potential preparation differences include rates of in-residence attendance for intermediate developmental education, assignments to headquarters, and experiences in operations-officer-like positions before assuming command.
• There is little overlap in the topics covered in the squadron commander preparation courses offered by major commands.
• Areas in which squadron commanders expressed interest in additional training included more information on how to command, administrative requirements, and disciplinary issues.

Commanders Are Concerned About Squadron Manning Levels and the Need for More Personnel

• They expressed concerns not only about the total number of people in the squadron but also about the distribution of people with the right skills and experience.
• Squadron commanders recognize Air Force efforts to increase commander support staff manning and often spoke in positive terms about the additional staffing. Some expressed concerns about defining the duties for the new personnel, the amount of time to fill those positions, and the amount of time to train new personnel assigned to those positions.