ROBINS AIR FORCE BASE, Ga. --
Airpower is like oxygen. When you have enough, you don’t have to think about it. When you don’t have enough, that’s all you can think about.
Gen. Frank Gorenc
Citizen Airmen,
As we roll into 2023, I want to take a moment to reflect on our accomplishments over the past year and share my observations with you. We have continued to prove ourselves to be an accessible, cost-effective and experienced force. We provided support to combatant commands and to our nation.
At the start of this year, as part of Task Force Iron Herk, more than 200 Reserve Citizen Airmen volunteered and provided airlift support to deliver critical supplies throughout the European Command area of responsibility to enable the defense of Ukraine. 2022 also saw the deployment of the KC-46 to EUCOM. Additionally, the 419th Fighter Wing deployed Airmen to Europe to enhance our readiness posture.
In addition to operations in Europe, we were busy at home as well. The Hurricane Hunters provided weather reconnaissance support to both named storms and the atmospheric river research mission. Additionally, we demonstrated our proficiency with agile combat employment by providing support to missions out of Homestead Air Reserve Base delivering vital supplies to the U.S. embassy in Port au Prince, Haiti.
In August, we published Air Force Reserve Command TASKORD 22-0001. The TASKORD established my strategic priorities of Ready Now! and Transforming for the Future. It also identified the key tasks at each level, from the individual up to Headquarters AFRC, to ensure we are making a unified effort to be ready as a part of the Air Force Reserve the nation needs to deter and defeat a peer adversary.
During my unit visits, I have observed firsthand the depth of knowledge and thoughtfulness with which all of you have implemented the TASKORD. After publishing the TASKORD, I visited both 4th Air Force at March Air Reserve Base and the 624th Regional Support Group at Joint Base Pearl Harbor Hickam. Nearly every Reserve Citizen Airman I spoke with was familiar with what was expected of them as laid out in the TASKORD.
To provide more clarity on TASKORD implementation, the Air Force Reserve Enterprise Strategy was released in November. It provides a roadmap for the Air Force Reserve through 2035. This strategy identifies three lines of effort to implement each priority.
To achieve the priority of Ready Now, we will focus on the following LOEs:
LOE 1 — 100% of AFRC Unit Type Codes in the “available” phase able to deploy within 72 hours
LOE 2 — 80% of AFRC units have resiliency programs implemented by the end of CY23
LOE 3 — Capitalize on AFFORGEN/Expeditionary Air Base capabilities
To achieve the priority of Transforming for the Future, we will focus on the following LOEs:
LOE 1 — Program strategic depth with surge capacity supporting emerging missions and capabilities
LOE 2 — Develop business intelligence and analytics at scale
LOE 3 — Foster Continuous Improvement and Innovation across the enterprise
Central to achieving the strategic priorities is Human Capital Management. HCM is a deliberate approach to ensure our units are structured and staffed appropriately to accomplish the mission. We have developed an HCM strategy to ensure our manning and recruiting efforts are focused on generating missions as well as ensuring a ready force. Growing the Airmen of the future requires a cohesive human capital strategy to synchronize the required resources to support our Airmen.
As we begin a new year, we will continue to focus on our strategic priorities and the LOEs outlined in our enterprise strategy. To that end, we recently published a strategic communication plan, which lays out how we will effectively communicate with target audiences about the Air Force Reserve’s cost-effectiveness, accessibility, value and experience.
Strategic competition is a reality, and our nation will call upon us to deliver warfighting capacity. I need all of you to be ready to mobilize to provide the operationally relevant strategic depth at the time of need. I am both honored and proud to serve with each of you.