Officer charges into first contingency response deployment

Published Sept. 6, 2010
By Staff Sgt. Kali Gradishar
U.S. AFCENT Combat Camera News Team

CHAKLALA AIR FORCE BASE, Pakistan -- As a group of more than 30 Airmen landed at Chaklala Air Base, Pakistan, and began set-up for a contingency response element, one Air Force captain arrived with eyes wide open and ready to learn the ways of the unit.

Capt. J.D. Foy, a 31-year-old Air Force Academy graduate stationed at Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, is in Pakistan on his first mission with the contingency response element, or CRE. While the CRE operates out of Chaklala Air Base in support of flood relief efforts in the country, Foy will observe the members of his outfit and gain the knowledge it takes to become a CRE director of operations.

"Up until a year ago, I didn't know what any of this stuff was. It's way outside my career field," said the captain. "What better way to learn than in the real world?"

Foy applied for the Air Mobility Command Phoenix Mobility Program, an intern program that provides a career-broadening opportunity to learn contingency response operations. Since then, he's attended various training courses and is currently on his first of three trips required to upgrade as a director of operations.

"I thought it would be a good experience. I looked at the program as a chance to learn something about the Air Force - to actually see and experience more than just flying operations," said Foy, a C-130 Hercules navigator.

When he first arrived at the 621st Contingency Response Wing, Foy was stunned by the change in pace, mentality and atmosphere. He also noted a difference in the ratio between officer and enlisted servicemembers, a change he found to alter the environment he was used to as an Air Force C-130 Hercules navigator of nine years.

"When I first came into the CRW, it was so different from anything else I had experienced. I didn't know what to expect. I went from being in a squadron with 70 percent officers to being one of 10 officers out of 80," said the captain, a Pensacola, Fla., native. "It was almost a culture shock, personally. It opened my eyes to what it's like outside the flying community."

Not only did he shift away from the flying community, he also entered a wing unit where various career fields worked so closely together that a security forces member learns from and works with an aerial porter or a medical technician pairs with a loadmaster to work on pallets.

"When we got here, you could see that everyone knew their role in setting things up - what their piece of the pie was," Foy said, but "I noticed that if there's someone sitting around who sees other people working, they get up to go help the others."

The captain finds that this makes being a leader, and learning to become the directory of operations for a CRE, much simpler, he said. "It's a great place as a leader ... Everyone is professional enough to see that the quicker one person gets done, they can help the next person and so on until they're all finished."

This may be Foy's first activation with a contingency response unit, but it is not his first deployment. Three deployments conducting air operations as a navigator and a deployment to the Combined Air Operations Center have provided the captain with vast experience to bring to the table.

"His experience at the CAOC has given him a leg up to step in on these diverse air operations," said Lt. Col. Shawn Underwood, 621s t CRW chief of wing operations at Joint Base MDL and CRE commander at Chaklala. "I couldn't have asked for a better guy to bring out on his first mission."

Lt. Col. Underwood is also Foy's instructor as he ambles through the upgrade process. After returning from Pakistan, Foy will have to set off for two more trips with a CRE and an instructor to complete the upgrade, a process that could take six to eight months depending on the availability of trips and instructors.

The captain sees this opportunity as an eye-opener beyond the purview of flying operations, as well as an opportunity for career broadening and enhancement. He plans to remain a DO for two years then move on to additional professional military education with aspirations to become a lieutenant colonel and squadron commander.

His desire to meet sky-scraping goals is a theme echoed throughout his life. As a 12-year-old boy, the captain saw the U.S. Air Force Academy for the first time and made the decision right there to attend. Years later, the 22-year-old graduated from the academy and still jokes with his mother that it was a "challenge accepted" to enter the time- and mind-tasking school.

"His reputation preceded him as a fast burner," Underwood said of the captain's high ambitions.

With plans to move forward in his Air Force career, it's possible that he will do so serving alongside his brother. The captain and his younger brother, a maintenance officer also at Joint Base MDL, have been stationed together twice throughout their careers.

"We were also at [Little Rock Air Force Base, Ark.] together for two years. I don't know how we've been this lucky twice. We tell people this is our join spouse assignment," Foy said with a laugh.

For the captain and his brother to both serve their country is something Foy's parents are proud of him for, he said. "My family, my parents, have obvious concerns about me being in the military, but they're proud of what I'm doing.

"They're happy to see that I'm happy doing what I'm doing."

FLOOD RELIEF PAKISTAN