What to expect during your Air Force Reserve career: Be ready to make history

  • Published
  • By Col. Darrell G. Young
  • 512th Operations Group commander
DOVER AIR FORCE BASE, Del. --  Are You Ready? 

Army Reserve Lt. Gen. Jack C. Stultz once said at a recent hearing in San Antonio, Texas, "Today's reservists must be prepared to rapidly deploy anywhere in the world and be ready to respond to both homeland defense and disaster relief contingencies." 

General Stultz's comment got me to thinking about how much change there has been in the Reserve. Before Operation Desert Shield and Operation Desert Storm, the Air Force Reserve was essentially a training command. We came to work with a focus on training and running a unit. Since that time, we've been continually evolving into an operational command. The demands and types of missions we're called on to perform today would boggle the minds of reservists who served in the 1970s and 1980s. We've become interwoven with our active-duty counterparts, and there is no seam. 

When people ask me if I think we will be activated again, I say, "Yes." When I see them start to wonder if I have some "inside knowledge," I add, "In today's environment, you better be ready to be called upon at any moment." 

I think you know what I mean by "ready." Being ready is being current on your job training and ensuring mobility requirements are fulfilled, as well as all your other personal matters, including a solid family-care plan. One thing people sometimes forget is keeping your employer fully briefed and up to date on your status of possible deployment. Although we're seamless with the active duty, we still need to remember our employers must be prepared for our absence. 

Why have we changed so much? We have evolved because the world situation has changed dramatically since the end of the Cold War. We need to be constantly ready now, because this country--and many other countries around the globe--need us. We have always worked the hardest when we are needed the most, and right now is one of those times. Is a great deal being asked of us? Yes, because a great deal is needed from us. 

What we are doing now will be recorded in the history books our grandchildren will learn from someday. You are making history every time you step on to the jet, launch another sortie or volunteer to deploy or augment the host base. Everyone assigned to this wing contributes to our story every day. 

I hope you're proud of that contribution, because I know I am. Who knows, one day you might be able to help your granddaughter with her history homework. 

Are you ready?