Youngstown Citizen Airmen share success stories with DC audience Published May 31, 2016 By Master Sgt. Bob Barko Jr. 910th Airlift Wing Public Affairs WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Members of the Air Force Reserve’s 910th Airlift Wing, based at Youngstown Air Reserve Station, Ohio, shared their experiences utilizing military training programs to aid members of communities across the country during the inaugural Delivering Outcomes to Communities event hosted by the Partnership for Public Service here, May 9 - 11. According to PPS President and CEO Max Stier’s event invitation letter, over the past seven years agencies across the federal government have launched numerous initiatives to create more sustainable communities. From small rural towns, to metropolitan areas across the country, over 1,800 communities have been served by a transformative approach based on strong local partnerships, improved coordination among federal agencies and a reliance on data and evidence to guide our work. Stier’s letter said the purpose of the event was to offer training to federal staff to enhance the skills and build the networks of those working across the federal government, PPS offering the first ever “Delivering Outcomes for Communities” training for federal agency staff members. The 910th was invited to speak at the event to share their knowledge about the Air Force Community Partnership Program as well as the Department of Defense’s Innovative Readiness Training and Realistic Military Training programs. During his May 9 presentation, 910th Airlift Wing Commander Col. James Dignan, noting the 910th is home to the DoD’s only aerial spray capability, related the wing’s experiences in using the IRT program to accomplish continuing aerial spray missions designed to eradicate disease-carrying and nuisance insects such as mosquitoes in communities surrounding military installations in areas like Homestead, Florida; Minot, North Dakota and Langley, Virginia. Dignan continued by relating the story of the 910th Civil Engineer Squadron’s April 2016 work in Gallup, New Mexico to construct modular homes to be used by needy families living on Native American reservations. He said this recurring DoD mission was also made possible through the IRT program. The 910th commander also talked about the unit’s recent AFCPP work with the City of Youngstown where the wing’s civil engineers collaborated with the city’s blight remediation experts to demolish nearly 90 dilapidated structures. Dignan said this “win-win” effort, completed under the RMT program, allowed 910th CES troops to get much-needed real world training while the city was able to utilize the Air Force Reserve’s highly skilled Citizen Airmen to supplement their thinly-stretched manpower pool. Dignan said the partnership aided the city in putting at least a small dent in the staggering number of more than 4000 structures in need of demolition throughout Youngstown’s neighborhoods while letting the 910th’s Air Force Reservists hone their skill sets in their own backyards. “We wanted to be a partner with the community outside our gates,” Dignan said. “These programs are a way to get that done.” The DOC keynote speaker, Cecilia Muñoz, Senior Advisor to the President and Director of the Domestic Policy Council, commented on why it is important to continue the efforts highlighted at the event. “We work for the largest organization on the planet with capacity to good,” said Muñoz. The inaugural DOC event continued with sessions May 25-27 and June 1-3.