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MacDill Reservists appreciate Stenner visit

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. Shawn Rhodes
  • 927th Air Refueling Wing
MacDill Air Force Base, Fla. --  Senior Airman Regina Nolting, a reservist with the 927th Aerospace Medicine Squadron was among a select group of Airmen who had the opportunity to break bread with the highest-ranking reservist in the Air Force. 

Lt. Gen. Charles Stenner, chief of Air Force Reserve and commander, Air Force Reserve Command, sat down to breakfast with junior enlisted members of the 927th Air Refueling Wing during the Florida swing of his recent East Coast tour.

"Initially I was intimidated by his rank but after he entered the room and shook each of our hands, I was put at ease by how personable and down to earth he was," Nolting said. "By that first impression I could tell it was going to be a relaxed experience."

The general thanked the troops for joining him that morning and asked about their concerns.

"There was an opportunity for us to ask him questions, and even though he was on a tight schedule he delayed leaving to answer," Nolting said. "Not only that, but he was interested in giving us the right answer and the questions he didn't have an answer for, he (promised to) follow up with an answer or resolution."

Nolting echoed the comments of other career-oriented Airman who learned how Stenner moved up the ranks. "To see the responsibilities he has now and the ease in which he seems to balance them makes me want to be the best that I can be," Nolting said.

After breakfast, the general met with wing leadership to discuss their challenges and concerns. From there, he was off to the base theater for a town hall meeting with members of the 927th ARW and reservists from other MacDill organizations.

Stenner began by thanking the troops for their service and telling them how valuable they were to the nation. "Countries are relying more and more on reserve components to do their nations' business and bidding," Stenner said. "We have to keep the folks we've got. That's the depth that the reserve and Guard bring."

Stenner addressed budget cuts being considered in Congress and said he would "keep faith" with the folks that are part of this system right now.

Another concern was the increased dwell-to-deployment ratio being proposed as the military mobilizes reservists more frequently. Stenner said that leadership was researching the new requirements to make sure they did not negatively affect reservists.

"What could break the strategic force? The dwell." Stenner said. The 'dwell' refers to the ratio of time reservists spend at home and deployed. "If we don't monitor and manage it well ... we have got to understand our capacity and how to use it so we don't break it."

Wing leadership was grateful to have the general visit the troops."Having your boss thank you for your service as Stenner thanked our Airmen is great," said Col. Dave Pavey, 927th ARW commander. "The general came away with a pretty good understanding of how challenging it was to stay mission-ready, and thanked us for doing so. Our Airmen's time is one of our most precious commodities."