Meeting the challenge of BRAC: 442nd works hard to integrate people, aircraft

  • Published
  • By Maj. David Kurle
  • 442nd Fighter Wing public affairs
WHITEMAN AIR FORCE BASE, Mo. --  While the base realignment and closure process benefited the 442nd Fighter Wing with nine additional aircraft and an estimated 185 to 200 new jobs, the assimilation of these new assets comes at a very busy time for the wing.

With preparations underway for a deployment, modifications to A-10 Thunderbolts in progress and at least two inspections on the horizon, the integration of additional aircraft and people, while a welcome result of the BRAC, adds an additional challenge to the wing.

The nine aircraft are coming from the 926th Fighter Wing at New Orleans Naval Air Station, Joint Reserve Base, La., which lost its flying mission as a result of the BRAC process.

“We’re cramming three years of work into the next eight months,” said Col. Patrick Cord, 442nd FW commander. “I’m confident the wing is up to the challenge. We’re professional, we’re experienced and we’ve proven ourselves in combat.

“The task we face now is deciding how we’re going to manage the integration of nine more aircraft and the additional people into our existing facilities and organization,” he said.

While the timeline for realigning the 926th is earlier than expected, officials at Headquarters Air Force Reserve Command, Robins Air Force Base, Ga., stress that an early move is necessary because Hurricane Katrina caused extensive damage to the New Orleans base.

“The timeline for moving aircraft and closing the 926th Fighter Wing is based on two key factors – the need to transform the military and the way we do business, and taking care of our personnel,” said Maj. Gen. Charles Stenner, director of plans and programs at Headquarters AFRC. “Mission demands dictate that timeline.”

After assessing the hurricane’s damage, it was determined that the 926th would not be able to maintain wartime readiness past a certain point.

The unit with a large share of completing the integration is the 442nd Maintenance Group, which will not only have to accept the additional aircraft, a process in and of itself, but will be expected to fold in the greatest number of new people.

“In the short term, it’s going to be extremely busy, accepting airplanes and accomplishing the flying mission short handed,” said Chief Master Sgt. Donald Shoop, 442nd Aircraft Maintenance Squadron superintendent. “Our goal is to have all of our Air Reserve Technician positions filled by October.”

The 442nd Operations Group will gain the rest of the new positions and face an increase in its flying-hour budget to match the additional aircraft.
“(The flying-hour budget) is going to go up proportionally to what it is now,” said Lt. Col. Stephen Chappel, 303rd Fighter Squadron director of operations. “We will be flying a lot more jets on a day-to-day basis. We’re flying 13 sorties a day now and we’re looking at increasing that to 18 sorties.”

But it’s not just the efforts of the operations and maintenance groups that will result in the integration of the new aircraft and manning.

Almost every agency in the 442nd Fighter Wing, as well as agencies in the active-duty’s 509th Bomb Wing, Whiteman Air Force Base’s host unit, will help complete the integration.

For example, the question of where to park nine new A-10s is being coordinated between elements of both wing staffs, and the maintenance, operations and mission support groups.

“The 509th Mission Support Group enables not only the 509th Bomb Wing, but also all tenant organizations on Whiteman Air Force Base,” said Ken Nugent, deputy commander of the 509th Civil Engineer Squadron, who is also the point of contact for supporting the 442nd’s integration efforts. “The 509th Civil Engineer Squadron is supporting the additional aircraft and personnel coming to the 442nd by planning, programming, design and construction of all facilities that are a part of the move.”

Eight of the aircraft from New Orleans arrived by March 15 and the remaining A-10 is expected in June when it will be released from the depot maintenance facility at Hill AFB, Utah.

“While the aircraft add to our already formidable combat capability, the A-10s are only one side of the equation,” Colonel Cord said. “We need to recruit and hire the people to support, maintain and operate those aircraft. Otherwise, these nine A-10s are nothing more than static displays.

“We are going to focus our efforts on recruiting experienced people to limit the time we would take to train people who are new to this mission or the Air Force,” he said. “People from the 926th Fighter Wing in New Orleans will get priority as far as hiring. It’s just a question of whether they would be willing to re-locate in order to take these new positions.”

Recruiters assigned to the 442nd work for the Air Force Reserve Recruiting Service, located at Robins AFB, Ga., but are tasked with recruiting for the Reserve units where they are assigned. The 442nd’s recruiting superintendent, Master Sgt. James Fritzen, just arrived at Whiteman AFB to replace the outgoing superintendent, Senior Master Sgt. Rob Gardner.

Sergeant Fritzen’s job will be to focus his office’s recruiting efforts on people needed most by the wing to complete the integration.

“We’re mainly focused on the maintenance career fields,” Sergeant Fritzen said. “Wing members can help us by contacting previous members of the unit to let them know about the available positions, both air reserve technician (full time) and traditional reserve (part time). If someone has an interest, people can load their names into the Get One program.”

To assist the wing with manpower issues related to the BRAC decision, a Site Activation Task Force (SATAF) team from AFRC visited Whiteman AFB March 7 to 9 to assess the needs of the agencies and units in the 442nd FW impacted most by the addition of nine aircraft.

“We are trying to identify all the required actions to comply with the BRAC directive to plus-up the 442nd to 24 A-10s,” said Lt. Col. Steve Parker, chief of fighter programs at Headquarters AFRC and the SATAF team leader.

The command is also providing full-time civilians and reservists new Web-based job placement services, called clearing houses.

“Keeping our highly-trained, highly-experienced people is vital to our command’s success,” said Steve Mann, director of personnel at Headquarters AFRC. “Our goal is to take care of our people.”

Colonel Cord is confident that AFRC will provide support during the integration process and that, in the long run, the wing’s workload will return to a more normal level.

“I believe the 442nd, in the short term, will be a very busy wing,” he said. “But as we work through the hiring process, over the long term, the activities of the wing will return to a more normal level.”