The Mission Support Advisor (MSA)

This study investigated using the Mission Support Advisor (MSA) as the conduit for the Air Force Manpower and Personnel Community's (M and P) transformation from a Cold-War transactional service provider to a strategic advisor for field commanders and base-level customers. External and internal environmental factors such as the Global War on Terrorism, the shrinking Department of Defense budget, the Air Force reduction of 57,000 troops and the changing government civilian workforce have forced the M and P community to reduce the numbers of Airman working in transactional support functions and to leverage new technologies as a force multiplier. Significant changes are necessary for the successful transformation of today's M and P tactician to tomorrow's strategic advisor: a paradigm shift in service culture and the implementation of a new deliberate development model. Worldwide customers in the field expect support during their hours of operation, which creates a 24/7 on-demand requirement for the personnel community's operational arm. It is unrealistic to expect the entire unit to be open 24/7, thus there needs to be a Knowledge Management program in place to ensure MSAs get the right information at the right time to support the right customers. Additionally, the MSAs need to exploit the holistic knowledge of the personnel community by developing a community of practice that brings together the past, present and future advisors, as well as M and P customers and subject matter experts.