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The Air Force Reserve Command, with headquarters at Robins Air Force
Base, Ga., became a major command of the Air Force on Feb. 17, 1997,
as a result of Title XII, Reserve Forces Revitalization, in Public
Law 104-201. Previously, the Air Force Reserve was a field operating
agency established April 14, 1948.
Mission
The Air Force Reserve Command (AFRC) supports the Air Force mission
to defend the United States through control and exploitation of air and
space by providing global reach and global power. The AFRC plays an integral
role in the day-to-day Air Force mission and is not a force held in reserve
for possible war or contingency operations.
Resources
AFRC has 37 flying wings equipped with their own aircraft and seven
associate units that share aircraft with an active-duty unit. Two space
operations squadrons share satellite control mission with the active
force. There also are more than 620 mission support units in the AFRC,
equipped and trained to provide a wide range of services, including medical
and aeromedical evacuation, aerial port, civil engineer, security police,
intelligence, communications, mobility support, logistics and transportation
operations, among others.
AFRC has more than 440 aircraft assigned to it. The inventory includes
the latest, most capable models of the F-16, O/A-10, C-5, C-141, C-130,
MC-130, MC-130P, KC-135, B-52 and MH-60. On any given day, 99 percent
of these aircraft are mission-ready and able to deploy within 72 hours.
Air Combat Command, Air Mobility Command and Air Force Special Operations
Command would gain these aircraft and support personnel if mobilized.
These aircraft and their crews are immediately deployable without need
for additional training.
 Organization
Office of the Air Force Reserve
The Office of Air Force Reserve, located in the Pentagon, Washington, D.C.,
is headed by the chief of Air Force Reserve, a Reserve major general, who
is the principal adviser to the Air Force chief of staff for all Reserve
matters. Consistent with Air Force policy, the chief of Air Force Reserve
establishes Reserve policy and initiates plans and programs. In addition
to being a senior member of the Air Staff, he is also commander of AFRC.
Headquarters Air Force Reserve Command
Headquarters AFRC supervises the unit training program, provides logistics
support, reviews unit training and ensures combat readiness. Within the headquarters
element are divisions for operations, logistics, comptroller, administration
and personnel support.
Fourth Air Force at March Air Reserve Base, Calif.; 10th Air Force at
Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base, Fort Worth, Texas, and 22nd Air
Force at Dobbins Air Reserve Base, Ga., report to Headquarters AFRC.
They act as operational headquarters for their subordinate units, providing
operational, logistical and safety support, and regional support for
geographically separated units.
Air Reserve Personnel Center
Air Reserve Personnel Center, a field operating agency located in Denver, Colo.,
provides personnel services to all members of the AFRC and Air National Guard.
Services include assignments, promotions, career counseling and development,
and separation actions. The center also manages individual programs for the
Ready Reserve, and maintains master personnel records for all Guard and Reserve
members not on extended active duty. In times of national need, the center
would mobilize individual reservists and certain categories of Air Force
retirees.
Reserve Categories
Ready
Reserve.
The Ready Reserve is made up of about 132,574 trained reservists who may be
recalled to active duty to augment active forces in time of war or national
emergency. Of this number, 70,118 reservists are members of the Selected
Reserve who train regularly and are paid for their participation in unit
or individual programs. These reservists are combat ready and can deploy
to anywhere in the world in 72 hours. Additionally, 62,456 are part of the
Individual Ready Reserve. Members of the IRR continue to have a service obligation,
but do not train and are not paid. They are subject to recall if needed.
The president may recall Ready Reserve personnel from all Department
of Defense components for up to 270 days if necessary. Some 24,000 Air
Force reservists from 220 units were called to active duty during the
Persian Gulf War to work side-by-side with the active-duty counterparts.
Standby
Reserve.
The Standby Reserve includes reservists whose civilian jobs are considered
key to national defense, or who have temporary disability or personal hardship.
Most Standby reservists do not train and are not assigned to units. There
are about 14,425 reservists in this category.
Retired
Reserve.
The Retired Reserve is made up of officers and enlisted personnel who receive
pay after retiring from active duty or from the Reserve, or are reservists
awaiting retirement pay at age 60. There are nearly 665,665 members in the
Retired Reserve.
Training
Reserve training often is scheduled to coincide with Air Force mission
support needs. Since most AFRC skills are the same needed in peace or
war, training often results in the accomplishment of real-world mission
requirements. This mission support is referred to as a by-product of
training and benefits both the AFRC and the active force.
Unit
Training Program.
About 60,000 reservists are assigned to specific Reserve units. These are the
people who are obligated to report for duty one weekend each month and 15
additional days a year. Most work many more days than that. Reserve aircrews,
for example, average more than 100 duty days a year, often flying in support
of national objectives at home and around the world.
Air reserve technicians are a special group of reservists who work as
civil service employees during the week in the same jobs they hold as
reservists on drill weekends. ARTs are the full-time backbone of the
unit training program, providing day-to-day leadership, administrative
and logistical support, and operational continuity for their units.
Individual
Training Program.
The individual training program is made up of more than 12,000 individual mobilization
augmentees. IMAs are assigned to active-duty units in specific wartime positions
and train on an individual basis. Their mission is to augment active-duty
manning by filling wartime surge requirements. IMAs were used extensively
during Operation Desert Storm and can be found in nearly every career field.
Reserve Associate Program
The AFRC Associate Program provides trained crews and maintenance personnel
for active-duty owned aircraft and space operations. This unique program
pairs a Reserve unit with an active-duty unit to share a single set of
aircraft. The result is a more cost-effective way to meet increasing
mission requirements. Associate aircrews fly C-5, C-141, C-17, C-9, KC-10,
KC-135 and E-3 aircraft.
Exercises and Deployments
Realistic exercises and deployments are an essential element in maintaining
combat readiness. AFRC units participate in dozens of exercises each
year and deploy to locations around the world. Exercises and deployments
help reservists hone skills needed when responding to a variety of possible
contingencies anywhere in the world.
Real-World Missions
Air Force reservists are on duty today around the world carrying out
the Air Force vision of global engagement. A proven and respected combat
force, the AFRC also is quick to lend a helping hand. Humanitarian relief
missions may involve anything from repairing roads and schools in a small
village in Central America, to airlifting badly needed supplies into
a war-torn city, to rescuing the victims of nature's worst disasters.
At the request of local, state or federal agencies, the AFRC conducts
aerial spray missions using specially equipped C-130s. With the only
fixed-wing capability in the Department of Defense, these missions range
from spraying pesticides to control insects to spraying compounds used
in the control of oil spills. Other specially equipped C-130s check the
spread of forest fires by dropping fire retardant chemicals. Real-world
missions also include weather reconnaissance, rescue, international missions
in support of U.S. Southern Command and aeromedical evacuation.
AFRC also takes an active role in the nation's counternarcotics effort.
Reservists offer a cost-effective way to provide specialized training,
airlift, analysis , and other unique capabilities to local, state and
federal law enforcement officials.
POINT OF CONTACT
Air Force Reserve Command, Office
of Public Affairs, 255 2nd Street, Robins AFB, GA 31098-1637; DSN 497-1751
or (912) 327-1751; e-mail: afrespai@tecnet2.jcte.jcs.mil.
Above Information Courtesy
of United States Air Force
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