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General sees ‘seamless’ force in Southwest Asia

  • Published
  • By Master Sgt. Norma Terry
  • U.S. Central Command Air Forces Forward Public Affairs
SOUTHWEST ASIA --  Everyone is on the same team, wears the same uniform and performs the same mission. As a result, people can’t tell the difference between active-duty, Air Force Reserve Command and Air National Guard troops.

That’s the impression Lt. Gen. John A. Bradley, chief of Air Force Reserve and AFRC commander, got on his visit to Iraq and Afghanistan in late June and early July.

The general visited Airmen in several locations with Michael L. Dominguez, acting secretary of the Air Force; Lt. Gen. H. Steven Blum, chief of the National Guard Bureau; and Chief Master Sgt. David Popp, command chief master sergeant for Air Combat Command.

“The Air Force is bringing great combat power to this fight in our war on terrorism,” said General Bradley during a troop call. “In Iraq folks are doing tremendous work in very difficult conditions.

“We’ve visited several places and have seen the same thing at every stop – people who are totally focused on the mission,” he said. “We’ve been out on the flight line visiting people who do different jobs – tankers, fighters and C-130s on the ramp where the average temperature is 115 degrees, so it’s probably 130 degrees on the ramp. Everyday in conditions like that people are working hard to keep our airplanes in good shape so crews can fly sorties to help our Soldiers and Marines who are out there doing a tough job in the combat zone.”

In most cases, Air Force reservists and Air National Guardsmen volunteer for deployments. About 20 percent of them are employed full-time by the Air Force. The rest of them work in civilian jobs outside the Air Force, yet they still volunteer to deploy.

Sometimes that’s not easy to do, the general explained. The appreciation of the willingness of reservists and guardsmen to deploy voluntarily is one of the main reasons for General Bradley’s visit.

“I want to make sure they understand how much we appreciate what they’re doing for us because when they volunteer to come over here they are helping the Air Force and they are also making themselves better Airmen,” he said. “They learn more of what it is to be an expeditionary Airman and they become better employees and better Airmen for us in the future.”

The general visited three locations in Iraq where reservists are serving. Not in great numbers right now, he explained, but later this fall and winter there will be several hundred in Iraq supporting major deployments and next year more are expected. He also went to Afghanistan where reservists are working in aerial ports, aeromedical evacuation and repairing a runway.

A side benefit of the visit for him is the opportunity to learn what Airmen are experiencing.

“There’s no substitute for seeing something first-hand,” General Bradley said. “I can watch every bit of television news. I can read as many newspapers and as many Air Force reports as are available, but I don’t get a full picture of what our folks are doing and dealing with. I can’t feel the heat they’re feeling on the flightline. I can’t see all the rocks, the dust storms and the terrible conditions in which they have to operate without being here and seeing it.”

This was the general’s first trip to Iraq and Afghanistan. He is pleased with the caliber of the reservists he’s seen.

“Most people I’ve talked with – the leaders over here – tell me great stories of dedication,” he said. “They tell of the high experience levels and the maturity of our people.

“Our reservists tend to be a couple of years older,” he said. “Sometimes that helps with experience levels, and that helps stabilize the force a bit. It can create some good influence on younger Airmen.”

As he visited the bases in Southwest Asia, the general said he was impressed by the fact that he couldn’t tell the difference between Reserve, Guard and active-duty Airmen because they were all of the same high quality.

“The commanders I talked to would say to me ‘this is a reservist,’ but I couldn’t tell it,” the general said. “I didn’t see any difference. That’s what I like. I don’t want anyone to be able to tell the difference.”

Although all of the components face challenges in the war on terrorism, one of the biggest challenges the Air Force Reserve faces is being able to maintain the ability to fill positions for deployments.

“We haven’t seen a negative impact from it, but I worry about it,” the general said. “Going to 120-day tours has been good for the Air Force because it makes for a more stable force.”

When active-duty people deploy they know they will be there for 120 days. It’s different for reservists because the Reserve cannot force them to deploy for 120 days. The longest reservists can be required to serve any duty is 15 days.

“We encourage people to volunteer and so far we are meeting that challenge,” General Bradley said. “But I worry about it a lot because the tours require longer periods of time. We used to be able to swap people out frequently, but that costs a lot of money, is hard to do and creates a lot of challenges.

“The more reservists we can get to volunteer do these things the fewer active-duty Airmen have to do it,” he added. “That’s a challenge the Reserve has to work on. I encourage people to volunteer because I want to do everything we promised to do for the AEF (Air and Space Expeditionary Force).”

The second challenge facing the Reserve is operations tempo and the fact that calling on reservists so much may cause them to leave the service.

“They haven’t done that yet but that could change next week,” General Bradley said. “That’s a challenge for us, but we’re working on it. We encourage our commanders to talk to their people often to let them know how much we need them and how much they’re appreciated.

“Right now our retention is higher than it’s ever been,” he said. “I believe it’s because people are proud of what they’re doing. They believe they’re doing something important for America and they take great pride in it.”

In his nearly 38 years of military service, General Bradley said he has never seen a better force of men and women.

“I think our people are more professional, more dedicated, more serious about their mission, better trained, better prepared and better led than they’ve been in any time in my career,” he said. “I’m really proud of the leaders we have, the commanders, the senior NCOs, first sergeants – the leaders of our force.

“The honor has not just been in visiting reservists but seeing all the Airmen – Air National Guard, Air Force Reserve and active-duty – because we’re really all alike.”