Reservists mobilized to support Afghanistan surge

  • Published
  • By 1st Lt. Candice Allen
  • Air Force Reserve Command Public Affairs
ROBINS AIR FORCE BASE, Ga. --  More than 1,600 Air Force reservists went on active duty April 5 to support the Afghanistan surge operations.

Aircrew members, aircraft maintainers, aerial porters and base operating support forces are among the reservists supporting the movement of an additional 30,000 U.S. troops to Afghanistan. President Barack Obama announced in December that he would be sending more troops to Afghanistan.

About 900 of the Air Force reservists were mobilized. The other 700 volunteered to support surge operations on Military Personnel Appropriation orders. Plans call for them to be on active duty for at least six months.

"I wanted to be here, and I'm proud to be able to contribute to the war effort by supporting our fellow service members who are in theater," said Maj. Jeff Snyder, a 326th Airlift Squadron pilot from the 512th Airlift Wing, Dover AFB, Del.

The primary airlift units supporting the Afghanistan surge operations are the 439th AW, Westover Air Reserve Base, Mass.; 445th AW, Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio; 315th AW, Charleston AFB, S.C.; 452nd Air Mobility Wing, March ARB, Calif.; 512th AW, Dover AFB, Del.; 446th AW, McChord AFB, Wash.; 514th AMW, Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, N.J.; and 349th AMW, Travis AFB, Calif.

Mobilizations and volunteerism are nothing new for Air Force Reserve Command units. McGuire's 514th AMW had more than 100 reservists called to active duty to support the surge.

Although this is the 514th AMW's largest group mobilization since the early periods of Operation Enduring Freedom, the wing averages more than 100 Airmen mobilized and deployed in support of global military operations at any given time, said Linda Winn, chief of personnel readiness, 514th Force Support Squadron.

In addition to the surge to Afghanistan, AFRC units will continue to support other missions overseas and in the continental United States. On any given day, reservists provide 46 percent of the Air Force's strategic airlift and 21 percent of its theater airlift. (Air Force Reserve Command News Service)