Charleston reserve maintainers covers flightline during active duty wingman day

by Staff Sgt. Rashard Coaxum
315th Airlift Wing Public Affairs

9/20/2014 - JOINT BASE CHARLESTON, S.C. -- Joint Base Charleston's 437th Maintenance Group got to take a break from work yesterday to enjoy time together courtesy of the 315th Maintenance Group.

The 315th MXG came to tap in for the 437th MXG and take control of all flightline and maintenance operations as the 437th MXG participated in the active duty's wingman day activities here.

"We're filling in in various aspects of both production and supervision throughout the entire maintenance group, however most of the focused effort is in the 437th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron," said Chief Master Sgt. Christopher Mong, the 315th MXG superintendant.

"Our main focus today is on the flightline," he said. "We are covering the aircraft flying schedule, we have higher headquarters missions that we have to get off the ground as well as the reserve shuttle we are covering."

Mong - a 24-year veteran of the Air Force - said that for the last year and a half to two years, the reserve MXG has had the opportunity to proudly fill in for their active duty counterparts on several occasions here.

Being able to support the active duty on wingman day plays into the Air Forces concepts of total force integration as well as comprehensive health, he said.

"I think it's very critical and crucial," Mong said. "We have an outstanding partnership with the 437th, specifically in the 437th Maintenance Group, and I look at us as a great example of total force integration and that's vital to both 437th and 315th MXG existence."

"We really back each other up because they need us as much as we need them," he said.

"It allows them to participate as a unit and unit cohesion is a crucial part of wingman day activities," he said. "By us taking over for them, it enables all of their maintainers - not just a portion and not just a couple of men and women, but the entire unit - to participate as a group in all of the wingman day activities."

Senior Master Sgt. Michele Summers - the lead production superintendant with the 315th AMXS and night shift supervisor - said that being able to fill in for the active duty for an occasion like this is not just about coming in to work for another shift, but it was more about having the chance to allow them to decompress but still find continuity within their unit.

"It's really nice to be able to step up and say 'Hey, you know what active duty...I want you do your wingman events and go build your camaraderie among one another and not have to worry about what's going on on the line," Summers said. "It's nice to be able to say 'We got this for you guys'."

Stepping in for the active duty served a dual purpose, Summers said. The airmen she supervised got the chance to not only give the active duty much needed wingman time, but it also gave them a chance to show how capable her reserve airmen really are.

"I love the 315th AMXS and I know what we are capable of," Summers said. "We have the knowledge and we know what we need to do out there and these are the type days that give us this opportunity."

Mong echoed the same comments and added that the ultimate goal in covering operations like these expands far beyond what one might see on the surface level.

He said that it was important to remember that supporting the active duty counterpart in this way benefits each wingman - both active and reserve -  and that it's crucial to successfully fulfilling the mission here at JB Charleston.

"We have adopted their mission statement and their mission statement is our mission statement to the very core," he said. "We really are one team no seam here and that's always been our mantra we operate on."