Air Force Reserve tests activation process

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DENVER (AFNEWS) --  The first of 24 bases scheduled for musters of individual ready reserve Airmen took place at Malmstrom Air Force Base, Mont., on March 2.

The Air Reserve Personnel Center conducts IRR musters, which are required by law, to enhance readiness and ensure the Air Force can "reach out and touch" the IRR population when necessary. The IRR is a manpower pool primarily comprised of Airmen who have previously served in the active component, the Air National Guard or the Air Force Reserve and still have a military service obligation.

"These musters provide the overall structure to gather and maintain IRR member contact and physical condition information, thereby increasing efficiency of the activation process for total or full mobilization," said Col. Ann Shippy, the ARPC commander.

Annually, ARPC orders IRR Airmen to report to an Air Force base, usually within 150 miles of their residence. Upon arrival, their records are updated, and they receive a basic medical screening and several briefings. The Airmen are paid for their time.

Colonel Shippy said musters are a routine process to allow ARPC to look at the activation process; musters do not initiate activation.

"The Air Force has not activated the IRR since Desert Storm," she said.

The remaining musters this year be at Altus AFB, Okla; Andrews AFB, Md.; Cannon AFB and Kirtland AFB, N.M.; Eglin AFB, MacDill AFB and Homestead, Fla.; F.E. Warren, Wyo.; Hill AFB, Utah; Maxwell AFB, Ala.; McConnell AFB, Kan.; McGuire AFB, N.J.; Scott AFB, Ill; Seymour Johnson AFB, N.C.; Sheppard AFB, Texas; Travis AFB and March Air Reserve Base, Calif.; Whiteman AFB, Mo.; Wright-Patterson AFB and Youngstown Air Reserve Station, Ohio; Westover ARB, Mass.; Pittsburgh International Airport Reserve Station, Pa.; and ARPC headquarters here. A total of about 5,000 Airmen will be ordered to report. 

(Courtesy Air Reserve Personnel Center News Service)

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