JOINT BASE SAN ANTONIO-LACKLAND, Texas – It’s Mission Monday. Amanda Sherman is a Department of Defense and Air Force Regional Environmental Coordinator with the Air Force Civil Engineer Center’s Environmental Directorate.
Based at Dobbins Air Reserve Base, Georgia, Sherman works with local, state, federal and non-governmental agencies on environmental concerns and legislative and regulatory affairs to advocate for the military’s operational and environmental missions.
“Our team reviews and evaluates proposed environmental legislation and regulations across multiple states for potential DOD and Air Force mission impacts,” she said. “When appropriate, RECs coordinate within the Air Force and across services to positively engage with states and mitigate impacts by seeking modification to pending legislation & regulations.”
We asked Sherman, who works in the East Branch office, to tell us a little about herself and how her work supports the Department of the Air Force and its missions.
What do you love about your job?
I value building strong and lasting partnerships with our local, state, federal partners and non-governmental organizations. I enjoy meeting people and learning about their organization. It’s a great way to share and educate others on DOD and DAF’s needs, priorities and concerns. Without our partners, it would be harder for us to succeed in proactively finding and implementing solutions to protect our installations and their missions.
When it comes to your job, what keeps you motivated?
Solving problems and seeking the win-win resolution. I have always placed immense value on proper environmental stewardship and feel my work as a REC helps accomplish this goal.
Why are you and your team important to the Air Force enterprise and your customers?
We help protect the military’s ability to prepare our servicemen and women to defend our country by working cooperatively with state governments and federal agencies on environmentally related issues to ensure continued access for mission planning, execution and training on land, air and sea.
Describe a project or event you and your team worked on recently that gave you a great sense of accomplishment:
Recently, I signed and submitted my first DOD comment letter. The letter commented on a proposed state regulation that would impact how our military trains. The letter requested the state to adopt language that would exempt military tactical vehicles from the proposed vehicle idling prohibitions. It’s important that our troops can train how they fight.
How does what you do support AFIMSC’s strategic priorities?
We develop and coordinate a single Air Force or DOD position on proposed legislation and regulations, such as the DOD comment letter that I shared above. We also serve as the “eyes and ears” of the Air Force and DOD to provide strategic regional perspectives to our leadership and policymakers at headquarters. These efforts target the AFIMSC priority of increasing the readiness of Airmen & Guardians.
Is there anything else you’d like to add which might help people understand the importance of what you do for the Air Force?
We have an amazing team of regulatory media experts! They are a valuable resource available to all our DAF installations to help solve state-level legislative or regulatory compliance questions, concerns and issues. They also actively work to assist DOD installations at identifying opportunities to reduce the number of enforcement actions and Significant Non-Compliance classifications at the lowest level possible.