KEESLER AIR FORCE BASE, Miss. -- Civilian employers got a first-hand look at what their Reserve Citizen Airmen employees and others in the U.S. Air Force Reserve do on a unit training assembly weekend during a tour of the 403rd Wing, June 2, 2018, for Employer Appreciation Day.
“This is a great opportunity for employers to see what their employees contribute to our wing,” said Col. Robert J. Stanton, 403rd Wing vice commander. “Mission effectiveness is only as good as the quality of our Airmen. Without the support of their civilian employers allowing our Airmen time to serve, train and improve, we wouldn’t be able to accomplish our mission.”
The 403rd Wing gave employers a chance to see what service members are capable of and can bring back to their civilian jobs. In some cases, it also highlighted how the service member’s civilian job can enhance their military career, as the employers found out during a static tour of a WC-130J Super Hercules aircraft used for the weather reconnaissance mission and the aeromedical evacuation mission.
During a demonstration of the capabilities of the 36th Aeromedical Evacuation Squadron, Master Sgt. Joe Byrd, 36th AES aeromedical evacuation technician, said the skills he uses in his civilian job as an instrumentation technician, who works on medical equipment, helps his military career; especially when they are in the air and working on patients.
The tour included presentations and demonstrations from multiple areas of the wing, including the 36th AES, 403rd Life Support section, 403rd Logistics Readiness Squadron, 403rd Maintenance Squadron, 41st Aerial Port Squadron, 53rd Weather Reconnaissance Squadron, and the 815th Airlift Squadron, showing how each area works together to ensure mission effectiveness.
“This is a great opportunity to show us, as employers, what our guys do,” said Franklin Kyle III, President of Kyle Associates, LLC. “I was very impressed with the many different parts that it takes to make this work, but on top of that, it is how well each part is done and the attention to detail all of the people take to get that job done.”
Employers received information from Phil Muller, a Mississippi committee member of the Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve program, whose goal is to gain and maintain a positive cooperative relationship with our civilian employers.
“This event is very important for employers to see what their employee does while serving their military duty,” said Muller. “Because the days of just one weekend a month and two weeks out of the year are gone, there is much more training that is required, and those few days aren’t long enough.”
Muller said it’s important for employers to understand that the service member has to go above and beyond to be qualified to go out and do their job, and they should give members the time off to do it, without the employee worrying about whether they have a job when they return.
The tour concluded with a flight on a C-130J Super Hercules aircraft during a routine training flight, which showcased the tactical capabilities of the 815th Airlift Squadron. The employers left with a small sample of what their employee has to accomplish on a UTA weekend.
Gulfport Police Department Lt. Phillip Kincaid said, “Even having been prior military (U.S. Navy), this tour showed me a total different side of the military, and you get a whole different appreciation of what our service members do. I think more employers should come see what it takes for our service members to get the job done.”