DOVER AIR FORCE BASE, Del. -- Roughly every six months, bright, new faces enter the doors of Air Force Mortuary Affairs Operations and are swiftly trained and passed the responsibility of performing our sacred mission. The unit sees its military members come and go, but the mission continues. As the unit grows and evolves, one thing always remains the same: the quiet dedication of AMFAO’s civilian employees who dedicate themselves and their careers to this mission.
Due to the vital importance of AFMAO’s zero-fail mission, the unit employs more than 30 civilians, many of which served previously themselves, who provide oversight in most aspects of the unit’s operations ensuring the mission endures despite the frequent turnover of military members.
“AFMAO is a unique operation and I believe civilian employees are essential to ensuring consistency in processes and procedures,” said Candice Popper, AFMAO resources division chief and civilian employee with the mortuary for 25 years. “Things that have been tried and failed aren’t repeated and things that have been tried and succeeded become best practices.”
As such, AFMAO’s civilians, who are typically subject matter experts in regard to their facet of the mission, act as a layer of assurance passed down to each individual who is assigned to them.
“The knowledge and experience that can be passed to our service members here not only gives them history but helps make their jobs a bit easier to perform and understand why we do things a certain way,” Popper said. “Continuity is essential in keeping AFMAO operations smooth and consistent. It also ensures the right information is reaching the farthest expanses of our mission across the globe.”
Many of the civilians who work at AFMAO are veterans, such as Popper, who served in the Air Force for 11 years before transitioning to become a Department of the Air Force civilian employee.
Popper said the experiences she had during her service not only set her up to fulfill her role in the mission as a civilian but to better bridge the gap between the two groups.
“Although the veterans who work here’s service may have been some time ago, I feel as though it gives an ability to more easily relate to the military members that are here now,” Popper said. “That connection helps them realize that civilian knowledge and experience is a great resource, both for history and day-to-day knowledge, for them while assigned to AFMAO.”
James Quinn, AFMAO logistics manager who previously served here as a deployer after the 9/11 attack on the Pentagon, said the biggest change he has seen, besides continuous improvements to mission performance, is the way members of AFMAO take care of each other and the expansion of tools available to them.
“Back then, we didn't have the same resources that the military members have now and the operational tempo limited our ability to use the ones we did have,” said Quinn. “The difference in the way the mission is carried out and how we take care of our people is day and night, but it's all from a learning curve that evolved to what it is now.”
As the unit continues to change, grow and evolve, the civilians who serve AFMAO remain the glue that holds its legacy together –– sharing their past experiences with the mission to drive the culture and shape the future of AFMAO.
“I think the specialized areas of expertise in AFMAO show that no one person or position is more important than the other,” said Popper. “We all need each other regardless of the task. I would like to believe that the civilians, and the continuity they bring to the table, have the responsibility to ensure that always holds true for AFMAO.”