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Total Force integration is strong at McGuire

  • Published
  • By Col. Rick Martin
  • 305th Air Mobility Wing commander
MCGUIRE AIR FORCE BASE, N.J. --  Total force integration -- this phrase might evoke thoughts of an Air National Guard KC-135 from middle America refueling some active-duty fighters on a homeland defense mission, or Air Force Reserve C-130's delivering life sustaining food and supplies to the hurricane battered Gulf Coast. While these thoughts might be accurate, they don't tell the whole story. Air National Guard and Air Force Reserve units are integral to the success of the Air Force. 

At McGuire Air Force Base, we are literally writing the book on Total Force Integration. We have the unique benefit of Air Force Reserve and Air National Guard units co-located with our active-duty wing. While many of you may have had the opportunity to work along side a reservist or guardsman, every single person at McGuire Air Force Base has directly benefited from our citizen-soldier sacrifices. For example, until recently the Security Forces Squadron was commanded by an activated reserve officer while the Comptroller Squadron is currently under the command of a member of the Vermont Guard, not to mention numerous others who step up to fill vacancies created by deployments. Additionally, if you take a look at our Maintenance Group you'll see active-duty and reserve personnel working side by side all the way up to the Maintenance Group commander. Their contributions aren't limited to personnel, our friends in the 108th Air Refueling Wing (N.J. Air National Guard) have been essential to the complete development of our OPLAN 8044 program supporting USSTRATCOM; and later this year a part of McGuire's team for Air Mobility Command's Mobility Rodeo competition will consist of blended active and reserve aircrew from the 514th and 305th Air Mobility Wings. And what's more, it appears we are the first team in AMC to compete with a blended team -- that's huge! 

As I highlighted above, we enjoy a unique situation at McGuire with active, Reserve and Guard units all residing on one base. Col. Jim Kerr, 514th AMW commander, Col. Mike Cunniff, 108th ARW commander, and I are proud to say that our strong Total Force relationship enables each of us to achieve so much more than if we were solo. We are a stronger wing, and we provide America a more capable global mobility team because of our Total Force relationship. Can Do!