507th Air Refueling Wing Public Affairs
8/13/2013 - TINKER AIR FORCE BASE, Okla, -- Reservists and Guardsmen showcased the Air Force Reserve Command and Air National Guard's first unit association during a joint visit by the commander of Air Mobility Command here Aug. 6.
Gen. Paul Selva met with Airmen, toured facilities and praised the Reserve's 507th Air Refueling Wing and the Oklahoma Air National Guard's 137th ARW for their total force mission successes.
"Your stats are awesome, your mission performance is awesome, and your relationship speaks for itself," said Selva. "Having an association that works speaks volumes. Showing the association multiplies combat power speaks volumes. The fact that you just crushed the [inspector general] inspections speaks volumes."
During the 2005 Base Realignment and Closure and Total Force Integration process, the 507th and the 137th ARWs began their partnership forming the first Reserve/Guard association in the Air Force.
With more than 100 existing Total Force associations, there are currently only two between the Guard and Reserve. One is at Tinker, and the other is the C-130 association at Niagara Airport/Air Reserve Station in New York. The Tinker association brought the two units together to provide KC-135 air refueling, airlift and aeromedical evacuation missions worldwide.
"We are now on our second generation of leadership, that's grown up with associations as the normal way of doing business," Selva said. "It's about multiplying combat capability, and it's making iron (aircraft) more effective when we have to use it. Here the Air Force Reserve/Air National Guard association is actually working the way it's built."
Air Force associations are not new but they can provide cost savings for the Air Force by merging combat capabilities, which is very important in today's budget climate.
The 507th and 137th ARWs successes have largely been possible due to the men and woman at the ground level making the association work, according to Col. Russell Muncy, 507th ARW commander.
"From the beginning we laid the foundation that makes the association work and makes it successful," Muncy said. "A total partnership in all areas and at all levels is key. In every unit there is a story of teamwork and overcoming obstacles."
One such story is from the maintenance teams. The KC-135 mission capability ratings are consistently high. MC rates measures aircraft availability for mission effectiveness and is generally used to measure fleet health and maintenance productivity. From July 2012 to May 2013 the KC-135 MC rate was 86 percent for the wings.
Day to day it is nearly impossible to identify Guard from Reserve maintenance members. The pro-super position is charged with supervising all the maintainers on the flight line. This position in the past was filled by a reservist. Now the position is held by a guardsman.
The story is much the same in the medical units. During last year's operational readiness inspection the 507th Medical Squadron joined up with the 137th Medical Group and the 137th Aeromedical Evacuation Squadron to provide expeditionary medical care during the inspection and exercise. Their partnership had challenges but proved to be rewarding.
"We had a monumental task of bringing our units together even though all our unit type codes looked very different," said Senior Master Sgt. Doug Mason, 137th MDS and wing planner for the deployed expeditionary medical squadron. "The best part of working together was getting to know the people and learn what their skills were and how to best integrate those skills to fill any mission gaps. Bringing together the units really clarified our perspective in providing medical care."
The 137th ARW Commander, Col. Glen Baker said the unit was happy host Gen. Selva and showcase the partnership between the two wings.
"We will continue to instill the general's vision of maintaining a caring and respectful workplace as well as maintain risk management at all levels," said Col. Baker.
The Reserve and Guard association has had many successes since its inception in 2005 to include:
2012-13 Operation Enduring Freedom/ Operation New Dawn joint deployments
2012 Global Thunder Nuclear Readiness Exercise
2012 RIMPAC (International Maritime and Air Defense Exercise)
2012 Nuclear ORI/Conventional ORI, which yielded "excellent" ratings
2010 Logistics Compliance Assessment Program, which resulted in an "outstanding" rating
2010 Joint ANG/AFRC KC-135 Operations Facility
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