There’s a lot of talk around the Air Force these days about multifunctional or multicapable Airmen — service members who bring more than just one skill to the fight and who are invaluable during deployments because they can perform tasks outside of their usual specialty.
By its very nature, the Air Force Reserve is full of multifunctional Airmen because of the civilian-learned skills Reserve Citizen Airmen bring to their military jobs.
Staff Sgt. Arin Brown, a defender with the 919th Special Operations Security Forces Squadron at Duke Field, Florida, is a prime example of a Reserve multifunctional Airman, bringing knowledge from her role as a medical professional to the 919th SOSFS mission.
“I think my medical skills will make me very useful in a downrange environment,” Brown said. “For example, I can more easily identify what is happening with someone who may be in shock, delirious, or suffering from hypothermia or heat stroke.”
Brown works as a nurse for two hospitals in the Florida panhandle. Her active-duty experience as a defender drove her to the nursing profession. As a first responder, she has been the first to the scene of a medical incident on many occasions. Her dedication to learn how patients were cared for provided the basic first aid knowledge necessary to make sure they were secured by paramedics.
“Brown is able to share those skills she has learned with us with others,” said Tech. Sgt. Gerard Bhagwatsingh, second in charge of the 919th SOSFS’s Bravo Flight. “She provides us invaluable perspective and information during our regular tactical combat casualty care training sessions.”
Brown isn’t the only defender from her squadron working in the medical profession. Many Reservists who serve as defenders often work as first responders as civilians. She said her two careers complement each other very well.
“Many of the certifications and training I’ve completed in my role as a defender transfer to my job as a nurse and vice versa,” she said. “I’ve built skills outside of my specialty code that could come in handy later. Being a Citizen Air Commando has helped me to excel in high-stress and rapidly changing environments. Transferring these skills across my military and civilian careers makes both of my jobs easier.”
“Her skills as a defender could also be applied to her civilian role,” Bhagwatsingh said. “If there is a security incident within the hospital, she’s trained to handle it.”
(Gentile is assigned to the 919th Special Operations Wing public affairs office.)