Air Force Reserve support continuing

  • Published
ROBINS AIR FORCE BASE, Ga. (AFPN) --  As Operation Iraqi Freedom shifts from combat to reconstruction, hundreds of mobilized Air Force reservists are returning home to family and civilian life.

Thousands more, however, remain on active duty, and Air Force Reserve Command officials here say they have no clear picture as of May 21 as to when these people will be demobilized.

Those serving on active duty include thousands of reservists in Iraq and other Southwest Asia countries.

More than 1,000 Air Force aircrew, maintenance, security forces and support people, including reservists from the 920th Rescue Wing at Patrick Air Force Base, Fla., are working at Tallil Air Base in southern Iraq.

Ten aircraft maintainers from the 920th RQW established the first Air Force maintenance operation at the base March 29. HH-60 Pave Hawk helicopter and HC-130 refueling aircraft from the wing continue to provide combat search and rescue services if needed.

At the Baghdad Airport, members of the 439th Airlift Control Flight from Westover Air Reserve Base, Mass., are running a tactical airlift control element, managing missions into and out of the airport. Westover's 439th Airlift Wing also has reservists in Baghdad from its security forces flight, intelligence division and financial management office. The airport is the center for humanitarian relief and troop movement operations in Baghdad.

Air Force reservists carried out an unprecedented number of missions before and during Operation Iraqi Freedom highlighting the command's increasing role in the total force, said Lt. Gen. James E. Sherrard III, AFRC commander.

"We have seen our reservists make huge contributions to each discipline key to its ongoing success," said the general, referring to Operation Iraqi Freedom in testimony before the Senate Armed Services Committee Defense Subcommittee on May 7. "We are no longer a force held in reserve solely for possible war or contingency actions. We are at the tip of the spear."

The command contributed heavily to airlift, aerial refueling, aeromedical evacuation, close air support, space, rescue and special operations missions in supporting the liberation of the Iraqi people.

AFRC supplied 25 percent of the KC-10 Extender and KC-135 Stratotanker support for theater refueling and 45 percent of aeromedical evacuation of the injured. It also provided 45 percent of the C-17 Globemaster III support, 50 percent of the C-5 Galaxy support, and 90 percent of the C-141 Starlifter aircraft, according to Sherrard's report to the senators.

One of the units participating in this history-making endeavor was the 728th Airlift Squadron from McChord Air Force Base, Wash. Transport aircrews airdropped 1,000 Army paratroopers in northern Iraq during a nighttime drop, which was the largest combat airdrop since the invasion of Panama in December 1989, and the first for a C-17.

Seventy percent of activated reservists were gained by Air Mobility Command, which channeled aircraft through "air bridges" at Westover ARB and March ARB, Calif. In addition, 10 other Reserve units mobilized reservists to support the air bridges including C-5 crews from the 512th AW at Dover AFB, Del.; the 433rd AW at Lackland AFB, Texas; the 349th Air Mobility Wing at Travis AFB, Calif.; and C-17 crews from the 315th AW at Charleston AFB, S.C., and McChord's 446th AW.

Reserve aeromedical evacuation units also saw unprecedented action supporting OIF. Three-hundred-eighty Reserve nurses were called up and deployed for the war. Five members of the 445th Aeromedical Evacuation Squadron at Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio, along with AES members from Charleston and McChord, cared for former prisoner of war Pfc. Jessica Lynch and 45 other wounded troops during their C-17 flight to Andrews AFB, Md. Members of Lackland's 433rd AES treated 174 wounded U.S. and British soldiers.

As AES members were treating the wounded, AFRC fighter assets proved invaluable contributing to close air support. The 442nd Fighter Wing from Whiteman AFB, Mo., the only A/OA-10 unit mobilized, was augmented by reservists from the 926th FW at Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base New Orleans, La.

Reservists were also highly visible in special operations, combat rescue and space operations, according to Sherrard. The Reserve provided 33 percent of the HC-130 and HH-60 combat rescues, 62 percent of special operations crews and more than 900 space operators.

Patrick's 920th RQW, along with rescue personnel from the 304th Rescue Squadron at Portland International Airport, Ore., rescued 17 people, including a downed A/OA-10 pilot who ejected after being hit while flying a close-air support mission over western Baghdad.

Several Reserve space units worked behind the scenes providing precision targeting, early missile detection and accurate weather reporting. The 19th Space Operations Squadron at Schriever AFB, Colo., used Global Positioning System satellites to direct precision targeting while members of the 6th SOPS used Defense Meteorological Satellite Program satellites to collect critical weather data to aid military operations. Tactical missile warning was provided by the 7th SOPS.

The success of Reserve integration in the total force demonstrated the value of an all-volunteer force, according to Sherrard.

"It is apparent to all that the reserve component is crucial to the defense of our great nation," Sherrard said. "AFRC continues to work shoulder to shoulder with the active-duty and Air National Guard components in the long battle to defeat terrorism." (Courtesy of AFRC News Service)