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Program streamlines training for IMAs

  • Published
  • By 2nd Lt. Dustin Doyle
  • Air Force Reserve Command Public Affairs
ROBINS AIR FORCE BASE, Ga. --  A partnership between Air Force Reserve Command and Air Force Space Command may signal a change in the way individual mobilization augmentees train.

A common training assembly at Patrick AFB, Fla., March 8-10 allowed more than 200 IMAs to fulfill more than 20 hours of training and readiness requirements. Typically, IMAs have to juggle their schedules and find time on their own to complete this kind of training throughout the year.

In the first day of the CTA, commanders and supervisors receive training on the ins-and-outs of the IMA program while the IMAs arrive or receive their required physical heath assessment. The second and third days focus on fulfilling other ancillary training and readiness requirements.

“This is the first and only large program designed to fulfill all annual training requirements for IMAs,” said Lt. Col. Doug Young, program manager of Readiness Management Group Detachment 4, Peterson AFB, Colo. “In three days we are able to do everything from awareness briefings to hands-on buddy care training to physical fitness testing and health assessments.”

While the active duty is responsible for the actual training programs for these reservists, it’s the job of Air Force Reserve Command’s RMG to track IMAs to ensure they are mission-ready with the required training. With more than 13,000 IMAs in the Air Force, finding the time and resources to fulfill training requirements for each IMA can be a daunting task.

“A great deal of work goes on behind the scenes before the first IMA even shows up,” said Colonel Young. “The teamwork between us and our active-duty counterparts is amazing, and we can all see the benefits in a group of well-trained, ready-to-fight IMAs.”

Col. James Rendleman, a past reserve advisor to AFSPC Commander Gen. Lance Lord, pioneered the development of CTA as a way to coordinate active-duty training with Reserve accountability. The program began in 2004 when Colonel Young received additional funding for the Reserve and approval from General Lord to use active-duty wing resources. In support of the CTA, General Lord made attendance mandatory for IMAs assigned or attached to Air Force Space Command.

Since 2004, the two major commands have worked together to hold 10 CTAs, resulting in more than 750 IMAs trained annually.

“Without AFSPC, these CTAs would not be possible,” said Colonel Young. “We offered (Air Force Space Command officials) part of a solution to a personnel problem, and they jumped right on board to make it happen.”

Since the addition of the Readiness Management Group in 2005, Col. Roxane Towner, RMG commander, has fully supported the CTA programs.

“The CTAs are an outstanding way to partner with the active duty to ensure training is accomplished in an effective manner,” Colonel Towner said. “Our IMAs are not simply receiving standardized training, but a sense of camaraderie and esprit d’ corps develops when they come together for a common purpose.”

While most major commands do not hold CTAs to train their IMAs, the program is becoming more popular. Both Air Force Special Operations Command and the Defense Information Systems Agency have held CTAs on a smaller scale.

“I see this as the IMA training program of the future,” said Colonel Young. “When all is said and done, it’s the most effective and efficient way to ensure our people are getting their required training.” (AFRC News Service)