ARC answers for AOR

Published Oct. 3, 2008
By Master Sgt. Jeff Loftin
379th Air Expeditionary Wing Public Affairs

Southwest Asia -- When a part-time job becomes a full-time commitment questions usually come along with the transition. A small office here answers them for all the Reservists and Guardsmen in the area of responsibility.

The Air Reserve Component Liaison Office here helps more than 4,000 members of the Air National Guard and Air Force Reserve scattered throughout the AOR and their commanders deal with the intricacies of their deployment.

"Transitioning from a civilian environment to an active-duty environment where there are a plethora of new acronyms, customs, procedures and new office politics can be challenging," said Lt. Col. Wallace Houser, deputy ARC advisor deployed from McGhee Tyson Air National Guard Base, Tenn. "[They leave] a home where there are no rules of engagement and go to a base that has nothing but rules of engagement. They leave home where there are rumors of war, articles about the war, and politicians and pundits pontificating about the war and transition to flying in, living in and facilitating the truth of war."

To help Reservists and Guardsmen with this transition the two members of the liaison office visit locations across the AOR.

"Our schedule right now has us gone about every other week trying to hit one or two places each time," said Col. Steven Rosenmeier, senior Air Reserve component advisor. "I think we'll hit most of the places in the AOR by the time we're done. There are Reservists and Guardsmen all over the place. I'm looking forward to helping them."

The office assists with a full spectrum of questions from entitlements and benefits to policies and procedures for promotions or discipline.

"Some of the rules and procedures are complicated," said Colonel Rosenmeier, a force support squadron commander from Pope Air Force Base, N.C. "They're not meant to be overly cumbersome for any one group and we try to make it as easy as possible, but there are some differences. If you don't deal with it on a day-to-day basis you might have some questions. Colonel Houser and I were brought in to answer those."

Colonel Rosenmeier said their main mission is helping Air Reserve Component members understand their benefits and entitlements so they can focus on the mission.

"There are a myriad of things they qualify for when they get home, while they're here, and things their families are entitled to," he said. "Making sure that information is in the forefront of their mind and can be used will help them be ready to do their job. They train at home station to do their specialty. They're here to do it. We make sure they're comfortable with those peripheral issues that could impact their state of mind while they're doing business in their specialty."

One of the issues the liaison office deals with most is questions about the rotation of ARC members.

"A Reservist or Guardsman who is on a voluntary order has made a commitment with the Air Force and a deal with their employer," said Colonel Rosenmeier. "When you say 123 days, that employer is looking for that individual to come back right around that time. So, getting airlift out and getting that person back home becomes extremely important. That is why we have some policies out there that say a Reservist on voluntary orders should be redeploying on an aircraft within 24 to 48 hours of the end of their tour. It's not because the individual is any more special. It's just that you have that contract with the civilian employer back in the states who is looking for that employee's return. We've got to get them back to their civilian job. That is one of those issues we want to help navigate both for the member and the chain of command."

The liaison office is also here to assist the chain of command in dealing with ARC policies and procedures.

"Although it's more frequent in today's environment, for many it's not often they deal with the Reserve component," said Colonel Rosenmeier, a native of Charleston, S.C. "In a deployed environment, more and more Reserve component members are contributing. There are some peculiar rules regarding volunteers. We provide commanders, first sergeants, superintendents and anyone in the chain of command with advice, counsel and information about the Reserve components so they have the tools they need to lead their organizations."

Like the ARC members they liaise with, both Colonel Rosenmeier and Houser are volunteers. Both requested this deployment to assist fellow Reservists and Guardsmen.

"What you will find in Guard and Reserve folks is a real can-do spirit with strong Air Force Specialty Code knowledge and experience," said Colonel Houser, a native of Knoxville, Tenn. "They want to be here or they would not have volunteered. We make sure they understand their tour length, benefits while they're here, benefits for their family back home and benefits when they get home. We feel like we can answer most any question. If not, we have support teams at Shaw AFB, Robbins AFB and Andrews AFB that help a lot."