AF recruiter shaping Afghan air force future

AFGHANISTAN

08.22.2016

Story by Capt. Jason Smith 

438th Air Expeditionary Wing

Story by Capt. Jason Smith
438th Air Expeditionary Wing Public Affairs

KABUL, Afghanistan – One Headquarters Air Force Recruiting Service senior noncommissioned officer is using his skills and experience to help shape the future of the Afghan air force.

Master Sergeant Patrick Cone, 438th Air Expeditionary Wing Education and Training superintendent, is a member of Train, Advise, Assist Command-Air (TAAC-Air) working out of Forward Operating Base Oqab in Kabul.

Cone, also an AAF recruiting advisor, spent seven years as a U.S. Air Force frontline recruiter, recruiting flight chief and HQ AFRS Standardization and Training program manager. Now, he’s helping AAF recruiters find solutions to their recruiting needs.

“It’s extremely important that the process is an Afghan process,” said Cone. “I can teach the American way of doing something, but it has to work here. If not, when I leave it will go right back to the way it was.”
Cone typically leaves the confines of the FOB at least four or five days per week to spend time working with the AAF recruiting headquarters team at Kabul Air Wing.

“I advise the AAF lieutenant colonel in charge of recruiting as well as his team of officers and NCOs,” said Cone. “I also work with my counterparts on training and programs like Pohantoon-e-Hawayee.”

PeH is a year-long AAF commissioning school where candidates learn how to be military officers.

So far in his seven-month deployment, Cone has helped the AAF recruiters tackle some problems that he never had to face as a recruiter in America.

“They never had a formal (Delayed Entry Program),” said Cone. “People waiting to go to PeH went home and waited. The recruiters can’t have them show up for monthly meetings or go to their homes to check on them. Now they make phone calls and check on the candidates’ status and motivation fairly often.”

The interaction between men and women is different in Afghanistan as compared to America. The AAF tries to recruit qualified women, but there are cultural barriers.

“It’s hard for men in the culture to talk to females about the air force,” said Cone. “After analyzing the problem, we collectively decided the best solution is the addition of female recruiters.”

There are now two positions scheduled to be added to the AAF for female recruiters, according to Cone. Just working through the issues also helped the AAF recruiters get closer to their target. When Cone arrived, there was one female attending PeH. Now there are five.

It’s not only the AAF recruiters that appreciate the advice of a U.S. recruiter. Cone’s director also sees strong value in having a deployed recruiter.

“As the sole Air Force recruiter in TAAC-Air responsible for advising AAF recruiters, Master Sgt. Cone has done a tremendous job of helping shape and focus their efforts,” said Col. Arch Bruns, 438th CJ7 director. “We have a very unique mission in building a professional and sustainable AAF, and his role is extremely crucial in helping to create the human capital necessary to make it a reality. I’m truly fortunate to have (Cone) on my team, and I know the AAF, especially the recruiters, feel the same.”

Cone said he would recommend applying for this deployment to any recruiter looking to gain valuable experience and make a difference in the future of Afghanistan.

“This is something completely different than we are used to in the States,” said Cone. “I’m still excited about having a lasting impact on another nation’s recruiting and military. This is unlike anything I’ve done in recruiting Stateside.”

• Date Taken: 08.22.2016
• Date Posted: 09.04.2016 07:31
• Story ID: 208845
• Location: AF