Robins Air Force Base, Ga. -- In these modern times of reboots and resets, a new modern innovation for the Air Force Reserve has been realized at the United States Merchant Marine Academy, led by an individual mobilization augmentee, Lt. Col. Nicholas Passarella.
June 21 was a historic day at the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy as two second lieutenants were welcomed into the Air Force Reserve at the academy’s inaugural Reserve commissioning ceremony. Second Lieutenants Kennedy Maddock and Christian Mou were administered the oath of office by Col. Edward Segura, Air Force Reserve Command’s chief of Manpower, Personnel and Services. Both of the new Reservists have accepted positions as intelligence officers with the 38th Intelligence Squadron at Beale Air Force Base, California.
The USMMA, located at Kings Point, New York, is a U.S. service academy that trains and educates future leaders of the global maritime industry, which serves vital U.S. national security interests during both peace and war. The USMMA is a unique service academy in that the midshipmen cadets can choose their respective military service branch while enrolled at the academy. Even more exclusive to the USMMA, midshipmen have the privilege to commission directly into the Air Force Reserve or Air National Guard.
While Passarella was serving at the USMMA, he recognized a unique opportunity for the Air Force Reserve. He identified the potential to help alleviate the Air Force Reserve recruiting shortfalls and seized on the opportunity. Using various command relationships, he was able to establish the exclusive Air Force Reserve commissioning program from the USMMA.
Under the program, midshipmen are interviewed by Air Force Reserve units, and once they receive a commander-approved authorization for hiring, they are commissioned as second lieutenants into the Reserve upon graduation from the USMMA.
“We have a multi-phase process here at USMMA,” Passarella said. “The initial phase is identifying and determining the eligibility of midshipmen who want the Air Force Reserve life. Then, in cooperation with the officer accession recruiters and the Air Reserve Personnel Center, we start the administrative process for commissioning, in conjunction with identifying vacancies and geographical locations that will fit into the midshipmen’s lives after graduation from USMMA. After identification of a vacancy, the midshipman completes an interview with the ultimate goal of receiving a hiring offer from an Air Force Reserve unit.”
Lt. Col. Jason McMunn, also an IMA, augments operations for the Air Reserve Commissioning program at the academy. “Nick and I have a monumental task here,” he said. “We have the midshipmen and their rigorous academic requirements on one side and the Air Force Reserve and their requirements on the other, and we have to forge it all together into a synergistic endeavor for the final product of a new commissioned officer.”
During the commissioning ceremony, Vice Admiral Joanna Nunan, the USMMA superintendent, expressed how proud she is of the new lieutenants and how much of an asset they will be to the Air Force Reserve. She said she is very pleased that the Air Force Reserve is now a viable option for the midshipmen at the academy, and that the Air Force Reserve commissioning program has her full support.
Maddock and Moua are both from California, so serving at Beale will afford them the opportunity serve near their hometowns while pursuing their respective civilian careers.
“We have a real unique opportunity here for the Air Force Reserve-specific commission pipeline out of the USMMA, and we really need to seize the capabilities afforded to us here,” Passarella said. “A key point to the program is that the midshipman cost is neutral, which means it is a win-win for all involved.”
Although, the USMMA is an engineering and science-based institution, many of the midshipman intend on securing a pilot position in the Air Force Reserve. However, just as many midshipmen are intending on pursing positions in career fields such as intel, cyber, engineering, logistics and maintenance.
“The intent for this program is to bring together USMMA midshipmen with Air Force Reserve commanders and hiring officials to fill any career field vacancies across the Air Force Reserve enterprise,” Passarella said. “We have created a program specifically designed for the USMMA midshipmen, tailored to their class-year specifics, encompassing all pre-commissioning requirements with the intent to place the midshipmen into Air Force Reserve units between their junior and senior years.
“Ideally, in delivering this program out to the entire Reserve force, commanders at every level will know now what the USMMA has to offer and can now contact us directly looking for viable candidates to fill their open billets. There is not another academic institution like this anywhere, and the graduates from here have proven themselves under the harshest conditions in the world.”