Reservists with computer language skills wanted

  • Published
  • By Jessica Dupree
Air Force Reserve Command --  Reserve Citizen Airmen with computer language knowledge now have the opportunity to put their coding skills to use for the Air Force.

By completing the Computer Language Self-Assessment (CLSA) on myPers, qualified Airmen may be selected for temporary duty assignments across the Air Force.

“Reservists bring the warrior ethos that we need to ensure that we can aggressively achieve the missions we have in front of us faster and better than our adversaries today and into the future,” said Maj. Gen. Kimberly Crider, mobilization assistant to the Commander, Air Force Space Command. “They also bring additional skillsets that ensure we’re doing this with the latest technologies and methodologies.”

The CLSA is designed to identify Airmen with the right skills to perform various software development and computer programming. Regardless of their AFSC, Airmen with proficiencies in Python, SPARK, or other computer languages can work with various organizations throughout the Air Force to improve operations using data and programming.

“We have lots of reservists currently supporting these kinds of activities,” Crider said.

One of the organizations that reservists chosen for this initiative may get to work with is the Air Force Chief Data Office (SAF/CO). SAF/CO was established to lead data culture, drive data capabilities, and act as the catalyst that makes Air Force data visible, accessible, understandable, linked, and trusted.

SAF/CO’s mission is to harness the power of Air Force data for timely decision-making and mission success.

For example, Airmen working at SAF/CO can assist in the execution of short term projects, or “use cases,” in which Air Force data is analyzed to solve problems and drive mission innovation across the Air Force.

Past use cases include optimizing and improving manning and readiness across the Air Force, and finding solutions for conditions-based maintenance to decrease preventative maintenance costs while ensuring zero downtime for aircraft.

“All functional areas have data, and therefore have opportunities for operational improvement or enhancement,” said Col. Charles Destefani, Deputy Chief Data Officer at SAF/CO. “We would allow an Airman to work with a specific unit and harness that data to make it function better.”

According to Crider the ideal candidate for this initiative has the required technical skills and is innovative, agile and collaborative.

“Reservists bring a unique perspective to problem solving because they bring experience from their civilian life,” Crider said. “They’ve walked in both camps. They understand what operators need, and they understand the technical approaches that we can apply to solve those problems. They can really be great translators between what’s required and how to get capability delivered faster and more reliably.”

Visit MyPers to take the online self-assessment.