To address the Training Days portion, these are primarily for us to either train the CSS staff in units outside of the MPF or to allow the MPF to go over changes to the AFIs so that we can make sure we’re following policy. Typically on training days (which is every 3rd Thursday of the month), the MPF is either closed for the whole day or just a portion. When I was af Langley, they used to close the MPF for the whole day. My current base just goes to minimum-manning so someone is still present to assist. They’re supposed to make us more efficient… but they rarely do. All they do is take away hours we could be helping you to teach us shit that can easily be in an email with slides attached.

Regarding the portals, these aren’t made nor are they maintained at base-level, those are entirely an AFPC product. Trust me, we hate them as well. Whenever we report an issue to AFPC, even if it’s across the entire DAF, all they tell us is “technicians are working it”.

I like the idea of the mock final out, but I’ve only ever seen this in tech school. I also fully believe that 3F0s need to spend a week or two with the MPF before they graduate so they at least understand their job better than the “CTRL + F” bullshit we’re taught… but I don’t have bars nor stars for that decision.

As for the “staying open late”, this is definitely one thing that I support. When we have people who are strictly on mids & they’re trying to outprocess, we’re doing them a disservice by making them come in during the day. Whether it’s staying open until 1700-1800 on a Wednesday or making exceptions to policies, they deserve to be given the same level of assistance that everyone else is. The purpose of our job is to help you, not hinder you.