Air Guard leaders explore ways to reset force

  • Published
  • By Tech. Sgt. Mike R. Smith
  • National Guard Bureau
BALTIMORE (AFPN) --  The challenges for resetting the Air National Guard became more apparent to its senior leaders here Dec. 11 to 13 when Lt. Gen. Craig R. McKinley, director of the Air National Guard, hosted the senior leadership conference, Minuteman Heritage -- Preparing for New Horizons.

More than 1,000 leaders from all 50 states and U.S. territories, including adjutants general, wing and unit commanders, command chief master sergeants and others, listened to a detailed explanation about the Air Guard's future force.

Resetting the force includes reorganizing missions, manpower, equipment and training to meet the needs of the 21st century. General McKinley provided several examples of how Airmen are already resetting the force, including flying MQ-1 Predator Unmanned Aerial Vehicles. He also expressed his confidence in the leadership's ability to move forward

For the first time, the leaders were told of the proposed reset of the Air National Guard on a national perspective.

Officials said all states and territories will be affected by the reset. It addresses the combined effects of the Base Realignment and Closure Act, Total Force Initiatives and the Quadrennial Defense Review. Future mission changes will affect full-time and traditional positions across the nation, a main concern of the leadership here.

"This has not been an easy process. Because of what BRAC and QDR have done, we need to get through it," General McKinley said.

Guest speakers provided congressional and active duty perspectives on the force and updated leaders on safety and cultural and enlisted views. McKinley delivered the keynote address.

Maj. Gen. George F. Scoggins Jr., Air Guard assistant to Headquarters Air Force Plans and Programs, spoke about "Preparing for New Horizons." His presentation highlighted the Air Guard's future from 2008 to 2013.

Most senior leaders agreed the reset is essential to the future of the Air Guard. And the timeliness, General McKinley said, was mostly due to the desire to move to the next step.

General Scoggins is commander of the Washington Air National Guard and served as a senior advocate for the adjutants general during the reset development process.

"General Scoggins is a closer," General McKinley said. "He is the most impartial and professional Airman I know, and this was not pleasant work, but if we did not do it we could not move on."

Army Lt. Gen. H. Steven Blum, chief of the National Guard Bureau, also addressed the Air Guard leaders. He began by unveiling the newest National Guard Heritage Painting: "In Katrina's Wake." The painting by Gil Cohen portrays the National Guard's relief operations Sept. 1, 2005, at New Orleans Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base in Belle Chasse, La., following Hurricane Katrina.

"I think that painting captures my feeling of what may be the Air National Guard's finest hour in domestic response in the history of this nation," General Blum said. "I thought it would be a good starting point to focus the discussion."

Blum said he hoped leaders would return to their homes with a greater appreciation about the necessity for the Air National Guard to be an essential part of the Guard's joint capability for defending the homeland and supporting homeland security operations and other military support operations.

"The team that Maj. Gen. Roger P. Lempke and the adjutants general assembled with the help of the NGB staff has made lemonade from the lemons they were left with from the BRAC," General Blum said. General Lempke is the president of the Adjutants General Association of the United States and adjutant general of the Nebraska National Guard.

"They have done an outstanding job of ensuring that every state kept their essential capabilities," General Blum added. "And we mitigated or minimized the ill effects on our Airmen, and we provided opportunities for interesting and exciting future missions in the Air National Guard."

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