Some reservists pick volunteering over mobilization

Capt. John Davis troubleshoots an intravenous pump as Senior Airman Samantha Brunner inspects the IV pump's port for any kind of blockage at the Contingency Aeromedical Staging Facility on Joint Base Balad, Iraq, Nov. 27, 2008. Both Airmen are preparing patients for an aeromedical evacuation flight. Airman Brunner, an aerospace medical service journeyman with the 332nd Expeditionary Aerospace Medical Squadron, is a reservist deployed from the 911th Airlift Wing at Pittsburgh International Airport Air Reserve Station, Pa. Captain Davis, a clinical nurse with the 332nd Expeditionary Aerospace Medical Squadron, is deployed from Patrick Air Force Base, Fla. (U.S. Air Force photo/Airman 1st Class Jason Epley)

315th Security Forces return from Iraq

Senior Airman Joseph Arnold, a reservist with the 315th Security Forces Squadron, greets his son. The entire family was on hand to welcome Airman Arnold home, all wearing shirts with their loved one's picture printed on them. Thirteen Airmen from the 315th Airlift Wing's Security Forces Squadron returned to Charleston Air Force Base, S.C., Aug. 14, 2008, after more than six months at Kirkuk Air Base, Iraq. (U.S. Air Force photo/Tanya Trejo)

Air Force reservists help train Iraqi firefighters

Master Sgt. Jimmy Mobley, assistant chief of training with the 506th Expeditionary Civil Engineer Squadron, instructs crews on safety concerns during a live-fire exercise at an underground bunker on Kirkuk Air Base, Iraq, June 11, 2008. The training was scheduled for firefighters to experience the effects of fighting basement fires. Sergeant Mobley, a Monroe, La., native and traditional reservist, is deployed here from Barksdale Air Force Base, La. (U.S. Air Force photo/Master Sgt. Linda Thompson)

Air Force reservists help train Iraqi firefighters

Iraqi firefighters traverse a smoky room during refresher training within confined spaces July 30, 2008, at Kirkuk Regional Air Base, Iraq. Firefighters with the 506th Expeditionary Civil Engineer Squadron facilitated the training to teach Iraqi firefighters how to rescue victims trapped in a building burning. (U.S. Air Force photo/Senior Airman Randi Flaugh)

Whiteman civil engineers work at Kirkuk

Heavy equipment operators from the 442nd Civil Engineer Squadron clear debris from a Kirkuk Air Base, Iraq, work-site during the squadron's deployment there earlier this year. The Air Force Reserve Command unit from Whiteman Air Force Base, Mo., also sent reservists from many of its tradecraft sections such as structures, heating, ventilation, air conditioning and plumbing during the first six months of 2008. (Courtesy Photo)

A heartfelt thanks

Lt. Gen. John A. Bradley, commander of Air Force Reserve Command, visits Master Sgt. Thomas Coffin at the Air Force Theater Hospital at Balad Air Base, Iraq, on June 15, 2007. Sergeant Coffin, deployed from the AF Reserve's 4th Combat Camera Squadron, was recovering from a gunshot wound. (U.S. Air Force photo/Tech Sgt. Rick Sforza)