FEBRUARY 6, 2023 – Air Force Recruiting Service today launched an expanded, redesigned version of airforce.com as a new, one-stop destination introducing potential recruits to the Total Force opportunities available in the Air Force – whether full time or part time, in or out of uniform.
Total Force airforce.com builds upon the existing design and infrastructure of airforce.com while consolidating important information about joining the Air Force’s active component, Air National Guard, or Air Force Reserve into a single, integrated website. It creates a single source for information on how to serve in the Air Force while showcasing the range of paths available, cutting down on confusion and competition between services and helping prospects explore their best fit option before ever reaching out to a recruiter. This update furthers AFRS’s total force integration efforts as the Air Force continues to blend and modernize Active, Guard and Reserve recruiting operations worldwide.
The new site will be an all-in-one destination for any prospect interested in serving in the Air Force. Airforce.com has always served as a vital hub for the Air Force’s engagement efforts, providing critical inspirational and functional content to a wide spectrum of target audiences – including youth, specialized officer candidates, current and prior service Airmen, parents, influencers, and the American public. The total force evolution of airforce.com makes it simple to understand the many options and pathways available to become an Airman.
“Today’s recruiting landscape is more challenging than ever before and we want the American public to understand that there are many different ways to become an Airman,” said Maj. Gen. Ed Thomas, AFRS commander. “The new total force airforce.com website will help us support our Active, Guard and Reserve front-line recruiters by better showcasing the unique strengths, opportunities – and importantly, the flexibilities – of each component in one place as one team within one fully integrated Air Force. Operationally, this shift helps to improve our digital efficiency, collaboration and coordination across the Total Force, freeing us from recruiting in narrow lanes.”
The new total force version of airforce.com consolidates three websites (airforce.com, goang.com, and afreserve.com) into one cohesive web experience that emphasizes the Total Force mission while creating clear, distinct destinations for Active, Guard, and Reserve components throughout the site. The site introduces an updated navigation that’s intuitive and all encompassing, debuting completely new sections that highlight the different ways to serve and their specific benefits and unique requirements, while maintaining existing content that’s relevant across all three components.
New sections include Ways to Serve, an entry point that allows visitors to dive deeper into their options within the Air Force’s active component, Air National Guard and Air Force Reserve, a new Benefits section which outlines the distinct benefits provided by each, a redesigned interactive Locations page which showcases the breadth of total force locations across the United States and overseas, and a new How to Join section which informs enlisted, officer and prior service prospects about specific qualifications and requirements.
Because all Air Force components share a common mission, history, and vision, and the careers and Air Force Specialty Codes are shared across the service, this information largely mirrors what was previously provided. Total Force airforce.com provides an opportunity to consolidate the information that’s true for all three components and spotlight the differences for visitors all in one location.
“We know from independent research and our own experiences in the field that most of the general public, and specifically American youth, aren’t really aware of the differences between active duty, Guard and Reserve service paths in the Air Force,” said Barry Dickey, Marketing Division director for AFRS. “Reframing airforce.com as a total force website helps demystify that difference. The Air Force isn’t a one-size-fits-all organization. We’re a diverse force, and there’s more than one way to protect and defend our country within the Air Force, whether you’re in the Active component, Guard, Reserve, or working as a civilian.”
Total Force airforce.com also standardizes the initial application process across all components. The new Total Force application explains the overall process, directs all applicants to one simplified, secure form to select which component they’re most interested in, and follows a few simple steps to capture necessary information for recruiters. This information is immediately transmitted to AFRS’s integrated Lead Refinement Center, which already handles Total Force recruiting for the Air Force’s active component, Reserve, and Air National Guard, as well as the U.S. Space Force.
Because Total Force airforce.com consolidates the information previously provided on the separate goang.com and afreserve.com domains, these websites have been sunset following today’s launch. Redirects have been put in place for all URLs from these two legacy sites to ensure that visitors searching for information about the Guard and Reserve are appropriately directed to where that information now resides on Total Force airforce.com. Moving forward, all updates for the recruiting audience about the Air Force’s active component, Air National Guard, and Air Force Reserve will be made to Total Force airforce.com, providing one consistent, coordinated recruiting message on a single website. This consolidation effort was informed by discovery interviews, strategy insights, analytics research, website traffic behavior, and recommendations on how best to represent and consolidate this information from the field.
Airforce.com is an ever-evolving destination for information about the Air Force. With this Total Force upgrade, its scope has never been wider.
About the United States Air Force Recruiting Service
AFRS’s mission is to recruit quality men and women with the right skills, at the right time, in the right numbers to sustain the combat capability of the U.S. Air Force. For more information about Total Force Air Force careers, benefits and opportunities, visit airforce.com.
Phone (210) 565-4687
Website www.recruiting.af.mil, www.airforce.com
E-mail afrshqpa@us.af.mil
RANDY A. MARTIN, DAFC
HQ Air Force Recruiting Service