Air Force opens facility manager special duty again

10/21/2002 - PETERSON AIR FORCE BASE, Colo. (AFPN) -- Tech. Sgt. Robert Quay likes self-help projects, the wide open spaces of the West and working only nine to 12 days per month.

That is why he is perfect for the job as a missile facility manager at Malmstrom Air Force Base, Mont.

Quay, an information manager with the Air Force Communications Agency in the Pentagon, is one of a growing number who are who are opting to drop out of their career fields for the four-year special-duty assignment

Nearly 200 positions, advertised on Equal Plus since April, are available, said Master Sgt. Larry Dunbar, superintendent of ICBM operations at Air Force Space Command headquarters here.

"It's good for someone who likes a stable tour," he said. "Usually people who are in a career field with a high deployment rate are interested. There are no (temporary duty assignments)."

Going to work, however, could be a TDY within itself. Managers sometimes have to commute as far as 160 miles from base to report to an alert facility. Once there the manager runs the alert facility for three days at a time.

The job duties are relatively simple: maintain the power supply, water treatment, supplies, publications, equipment and housing arrangements for the missile alert crew, the transient maintenance crew and security forces at the facility. They might be called upon to perform tasks ranging from providing medical attention to a crewmember to removing snow.

In short, facility managers are the jack of all trades -- a concierge to about 20 people either on alert or maintaining and guarding America's powerful Minutemen and Peacekeeper missile force.

"It's kind of like a small hotel in the middle of the prairie," said Quay, who has been a missile facility manager before in Montana. "We're there to try to help the crews. I find it very rewarding."

Three years ago, the job was closed as a special duty and incorporated into the missile maintenance career field. It was a controversial move, Dunbar said, because the career field was not large enough to support requirements.

Now the Air Force is again looking for independent people willing to spend four years in remote locations three days at a time, making sure the facility runs smoothly.

"When I heard it was open again, I was one of the first to apply," Quay said. "It's great for those who love the wide open spaces of the West, especially if you get six days off."

Applicants must be staff sergeants to senior master sergeants. They will be assigned to Malmstrom; Minot AFB, N.D.; or F.E. Warren AFB, Wyo., and must have a secret clearance. They must also have no record of emotional instability, disciplinary action or financial irresponsibility. The Special Duty Code is 8S000. (Courtesy of AFSPC News Service)