Air Force Colonels have a range of duties and responsibilities, overseeing more than 100 different Air Force Specialty Codes. They may command units or entire bases, and their duties depend on their specialization. They are considered senior officers and should be respected by lower-ranking personnel.
An Air Force Colonel typically has a wide variety of duties and responsibilities. There are more than 100 different Air Force Specialty Codes (AFSCs) to oversee within this branch of the military, so this means one Air Force colonel could sit behind a desk and supervise contract specialists while another air force colonel could head the base chapel and lead religious services. All Colonels are expected to be skilled leaders and also understand the intricacies of their assigned specialty.
Colonels are often tasked with commanding a unit or entire bases, depending on the size and purpose of the unit or base. While colonels are not the highest rank within the Air Force, they are considered senior officers and thus are commonly in charge of large personnel groups. Colonels who command units should report to base commanders, while colonels who are base commanders should report to the leaders of their command, such as an Air Combat Command (ACC) or Air Education and Training Command (AETC).
An Air Force colonel who works directly under a general will typically not have the same duties as a colonel who is the commander of an entire base. Colonels working directly for senior commanders will typically find themselves acting as an advisor or liaison between the commander and other lower-ranking personnel. It is not uncommon for smaller bases and deployed locations to have colonels as commanders, and an Air Force colonel in a command position is essentially in charge of the entire military base. He relies heavily on senior NCOs and unit chiefs to keep him informed and usually spends a lot of time consulting them.
The duties of a colonel in the Air Force also largely depend on the specialization he has. A colonel assigned to a flying unit, for example, may have very different day-to-day duties than the colonel assigned to oversee the mess. While most colonels have to supervise other personnel, depending on the unit and specialty, colonels may find themselves working alongside other lower-ranking personnel. What a Colonel does on a day-to-day basis can vary widely, but day-to-day duties almost always involve leading other people in one way or another.
Colonels in the Air Force may be assigned to staffed units from other military branches, but this does not change their authority. Regardless of their day-to-day duties, Air Force colonels rank high within the military rank structure and should be respected and followed up by lower-ranking personnel.
Protect your devices with Threat Protection by NordVPN
