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Calling All Civilians
JBER, Eielson recruiting for hundreds of job openings— no elistment necessary
By Brad Joyal
Alaska’s military bases are looking to make new hires at a rapid pace. Between Joint Base Elmendorf- Richardson’s (JBER) influx of nonappropriated funds (NAF) jobs and Civilian Personnel openings and Eielson Air Force Base’s available jobs tied to the new F-35 beddown, there are hundreds of military jobs available throughout the state. And many of them don’t require any affiliation with the military.
In July, JBER’s public affairs office issued a news release in which human resource directors estimated there are roughly 330 positions to fill between its NAF jobs—which are positions that don’t require approval from Congress— and additional openings in the Civilian Personnel office.
Although the open positions at JBER involve working on the base, the bulk of them are entry-level positions that welcome civilians even if they have little knowledge about military operations.
So Many Open Positions?
It’s not that civilians are leaving their military jobs in droves; the industry is simply growing at a swift pace throughout the state. Meghan Govin, who serves as JBER’s human resources director for NAF jobs, describes the hiring boom as a necessary move to keep up with the base’s growing population.
“The base has just gotten to be a big population,” Govin says. “With our population on the base growing in regards to having to serve more military, it has increased some of our positions— our childcare positions and more at the lodging facility. When it comes to our seasonal positions, those [openings] are to just make sure we have enough bodies on hand to take care of everything. We have the golf course in the summer, and during the winter we have our Hillberg ski resort, so it can get a little bit crazy.”
The Eielson Air Force Base Regional Growth Plan, commissioned by the Fairbanks North Star Borough last fall, concluded that 532 new housing units would be needed by 2022 around North Pole to accommodate the growth and demand coming from F-35 families. The F-35s are bringing additional civilian positions to Eielson, so the base has also been working to trim its vacancy rate by filling various openings over the past decade.
“While bedding down the F-35s and its additional 108 civilian positions is special in its own right, Eielson has been experiencing nearly a 25 percent vacancy rate of its roughly 400 civilian billets for over a decade,” says Howard Rixie, chief of the civilian personnel flight, 354th Force Support Squadron. “With the coming of the F-35s and other human capital initiatives across the Air Force, there have been some doors to special hiring authorities opening up.”
Rixie says that one way Eielson has started to reduce its vacancies has been a “full-court press in marketing” job opportunities over the past nine months.
“We have been working with our Air Force Talent Acquisition team, local radio spots, a multitude of job seminars across the borough, a job opportunity video, UAF Careers Day, job fairs, and employing consideration for recruiting and relocation incentives,” he says. “All of this has made a significant difference— we have cut our vacancies in half. We will continue to push hard to fill our vacancies all the way through 2021.”
Govin says an uptick in hires at JBER during the summer months isn’t unusual. “It’s pretty common,” she says. “I’m not sure if it’s because we had a really nice summer this year, but there were more days to do things like golfing and other outdoors stuff and so we needed the extra bodies. We always have those positions, but some of them are going to depend on the weather a little bit as for how in dire need we’ll actually be.”
How the Hiring Process Works
When it comes to working on a military base, it’s important to note there are various classifications pertaining to job titles. Federal government positions are classified by occupational series, grade or pay level, and pay plan. Many of the white collar jobs are commonly classified under the General Schedule (GS). Those jobs are salaried positions and are graded based upon experience level. For example, a job with a GS-1 grade typically means the job requires little experience or limited education. Positions that require a bachelor’s degree and no experience are often graded between GS-5 and GS-7.
Govin says the majority of NAF openings require very little education or experience. In addition to not needing approval from Congress, NAF jobs are typically lower paying because the money to pay NAF employees is generated by the base.
“The funds that we intake from people visiting and using our facilities is what pays everybody,” Govin says. “The federal positions come from Congress, and that money is mandated. That’s also why our jobs don’t pay very high, but they’re still comparable to what is made off base. It’s not going to be a huge difference in pay if you’re a GS employee and you work at the childcare center compared to a NAF position working at the childcare center.”
Although the prospect of working on a military base might be intimidating to some, the hiring process is remarkably similar to applying for a civilian job that isn’t associated with the military. Govin says that interested applicants with little knowledge about JBER—or the military in general—should still consider applying.
“When it comes to qualifications, you don’t have to have any insight into how things work on the installation or anything like that,” she says.
What Jobs Are Available?
As of September, Rixie said Eielson had more than sixty vacancies. He anticipates another fifty-six positions opening soon, of which thirty-six will be F-35-related. The number of job openings at JBER are far greater; an online search of civilian jobs at JBER displays more than 250 openings. The majority of Alaska openings on NAFJobs.org are entry-level positions that serve various purposes.
There is a NAF opening at Eielson for an aquatics director that pays $16.92 per hour, the same hourly rate as the lead recreation aid (lifeguard) position the base is looking to fill. The caterer position at Eielson’s Yukon Club also pays $16.92 per hour, while the club’s bartender position pays $15.07 per hour. JBER has open laborer positions for lodging and at the Moose Run Golf Course, both of which pay $12.07 per hour. One of the highest paying NAF openings is for an information technology specialist, which pays between $22 and $30 per hour depending on experience.
Despite higher pay, “generally speaking, the positions which typically are the hardest to fill are the professional and highly technical positions,” Rixie
says. “Engineers, IT, pilot, ground controllers, and air traffic control.”
Laborer positions are generally easier to fill, Govin says, because the qualifications aren’t as expansive as higher-paying, more technical opportunities.
“The qualifications really depend on whatever the position is,” she says. “For childcare positions, all you have to have is a high school diploma. For some of our laborer positions, you don’t have to have any experience at all. Some positions require working with tools, and a ton of positions require very basic experience. But then we have other positions like an IT professional and with that, you have to have a little bit more knowledge. But for the most part, our positions are entry-level positions.”
Good Jobs for a Stronger Economy
As is the case with many employers throughout Alaska, military bases will look in and out of Alaska when searching for qualified applicants. But like employers in other industries have undoubtedly discovered, finding employees willing to relocate to Alaska isn’t always the easiest undertaking. “While we are casting a net worldwide, many outsiders normally have to be enticed to move to the Arctic, so a majority of applicants originate from Alaska,” Rixie says.
Govin says many of the applicants she sees already have some sort of connection to the base. “We get people from Palmer and some from around the Girdwood area,” she says. “Some people hear about us through other people who work on the base and they might be locals and want to work with their friends.” Another job-related trend at JBER is civilians who have relationships with active military members and want to stay close to a family member or spouse. “Some of the people that are applying are military affiliated,” Govin continues. “Either their spouse is in the military or sometimes there are family members that come with a member of the military.”
Regardless of the reason job huntersmight be interested in working at anAlaska military base, it’s not always asimple transition for civilians with littleknowledge about the state.
“Transitioning to Eielson has alwaysbeen a challenge in contrast to thecontinental United States,” Rixie explains.“It’s customary to worry about a newhouse, schools, winterizing vehicles,acclimating to an Arctic desert, andadjusting to a higher cost of living.”
Rixie also notes that civilian employeeswithout a military affiliation are oftenmore motivated to establish roots in thecommunity and contribute more to theAlaska economy.
“Every airman, both military andcivilian, contributes to the Alaskaeconomy,” he says. “Our civilian paytotals over $35 million a year. Civilianemployees not tied to a military spouseare more inclined to make morepermanent roots in the community—for example, by buying a home versusrenting.”
While the impact the civilian hiringboom will have on Alaska’s economyhasn’t yet been quantified, the F-35-related jobs certainly present a rosyoutlook, especially for the constructionindustry. In FY2019, US Army Corps ofEngineers spending in Alaska will totalabout $640 million, a $90 million increasecompared to FY2018. Contractors andconstruction workers involved with F-35projects aren’t the only ones giving theeconomy a boost: an estimated 3,500airmen and contractors—and theirfamilies—are expected to join the base.That influx of people will have a massiveimpact on the communities surroundingEielson.
Civilian military workers also havea significant impact on the state’seconomy. A laborer job on a militarybase is similar in scope of work andpay to a laborer job outside the militaryumbrella, but Rixie is quick to point outthat positions on a military have theadded benefit of serving a larger mission.
“It’s important to note that everycivilian vacancy impacts our militaryreadiness, so every vacancy is crucial,”Rixie says.
