JOINT BASE LEWIS-MCCHORD, Washington — The Air Force Reserve is opening its doors to thousands of airmen looking to leave their active-duty commitment — and offering large bonuses for those in high-demand career fields.
The push follows a trend started with the sequestration threat in 2013 when many airmen grew wary of long-term careers in active duty, but wanted to serve in uniform and have the benefits of a military service.
At bases across the country, reservists are picking up more of the slack and flying missions alongside active-duty airmen, and in some cases becoming even busier than their active counterparts. This is the case here at one of the busiest mobility bases in the continental United States, where reserve pilots and aircrews fly the same C-17s as their active duty counterparts in missions around the globe.
"The Air Force Reserve is looking for good, quality people," said Master Sgt. James Joyal, an in-service recruiter with the 446th Airlift Wing here. "Our mission is getting bumped up and we are looking for prior service individuals coming off active duty. We could utilize their skill set and we have an opportunity for them."
Last October, the Air Force Reserve raised its enlisted affiliation bonus for seven jobs on the critical skills list from $15,000 to $20,000. Active duty airmen who agree to serve six years in the reserve can get that maximum $20,000 bonus if they are 1A1X1 flight engineers, 1A4X1 airborne battle managers, 1T2X1 pararescue airmen, 2A2X2 special operations forces/personnel recovery airmen, 2A5X2 helicopter maintainers, 2A6X4 aircraft fuel systems, and 3E8X1 explosive ordnance disposal airmen.
Officer affiliation bonuses are still $10,000.
The Air Force Reserve brought in 8,211 new reservists in fiscal 2014, beating its recruiting goal of 7,800. Of those new reservists, 7,557 went into reserve units, and the remaining 654 went into the individual mobilization augmentee program, which are reservists in support of active-duty airmen.
Of those new reservists, 58 percent or 4,781 had previously served in the Air Force, and 737 had previously served in another branch of the military.
The reserve had recruiting help from the Air Force's drawdown effort last year, which included an expanded Palace Chase program that allowed active-duty airmen to serve out the rest of their time in the Air National Guard or reserve. Palace Chase normally makes enlisted airmen serve two years in the Guard or reserve for every year of active duty they have left, and officers typically must serve three years for every year left.
That generous Palace Chase program was not continued this year. In 2014, 945 active duty airmen joined the reserve through Palace Chase, and another 422 joined the reserve through Palace Chase during the first eight months of fiscal 2015.
If active duty airmen keep joining the reserve at that rate for the final third of fiscal 2015, it will end the year with about 633 Palace Chase recruits, suggesting the program has slowed down since the expanded program ended.
Once a week, Joyal hosts a group of airmen who are getting out of active duty and curious about their options in the reserve. In a small conference room, Joyal runs through a slideshow of Palace Chase and Palace Front options, along with other ways the reserve can lure airmen into their ranks — the promise of a pension, a better chance at regular promotions.
"The reserve is getting a little bit fatter on the financial end," Joyal said. "With that comes rank, and the opportunity to promote. In the reserve, you don't test for your rank. As a staff sergeant going toward tech sergeant, you will make tech. It's time in grade and time in service; if you have it, you will be promoted. What you have to do is do your job."
This year, Joyal said he is on pace to see about 160 separatees head toward the reserve at McChord. It's a high rate, but still down from the 200-plus he saw get out of active duty in 2013 as sequestration loomed over the service.
At McChord, he mostly visits with senior airmen and staff sergeants who have put in their enlistment time and are looking for what's next. With such a big C-17 contingent at the base, he said he sees a lot of majors and captains looking to get out of active duty and still fly in the reserves, while looking at aviation jobs in the private sector.
The promise of money and the ability to use education benefits is the largest thing that gets airmen to join the reserve, along with the ability to continue to wear the uniform.
"Gauging what they have experienced in the reserve so far, the feedback I get is they are using it as an opportunity to get through school, and it's doing just that," Joyal said. "It's a supplemental income, and it's doing just that."
The flight line at Joint Base Lewis-McChord is lined with C-17s that are among the busiest in the service. The airmen fly to and from operations in the Middle East, along with support to the Pacific and exclusively handling the Operation Deep Freeze mission support for the National Science Foundation in Antarctica. Much of these missions are flown by reserve crews, with the experienced pilots and airmen able to pick which missions they can fly and be able to get more experience in their airframes. That was a main reason Maj. Peter Grossenbach, an instructor pilot with the 728th Airlift Squadron, decided to move over from the active duty 62nd Airlift Wing at the base to the reserve side.
"A big benefit is having control, and being able to volunteer instead of being on the hook all the time," Grossenbach said.
For pilots assigned to Air Mobility Command active duty crews, the bulk of their time flying comes as they are younger officers, such as lieutenants and captains. Majors and lieutenant colonels are usually moved out of the cockpits and into staff positions in their units. This began to happen to Grossenbach just as he felt he was "getting good" at flying the C-17. After moving to the reserve side, he's able to fly about twice as often and hone skills that can be used in assignments such as Deep Freeze.
"Right now, I'm just getting good at this," he said. "I was just hitting my stride, and now it was time to move to a staff assignment. ... It's nice to be able to sink my teeth into this job."
The maintenance side of the base is also teeming with experience, where mostly prior active duty airmen can stay long-term in their career field and with the same type of airframe, while still staying busy, said Senior Master Sgt. Marty Hitt, the assistant superintendent with the 446th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron, Blue Aircraft Maintenance Unit. His unit is made up of more than 400 airmen, with most of them prior active.
The unit's activity comes in waves, as the base's C-17s rise and fall in demand. The unit is coming off a hectic 2014, and has been able to refocus on training as deployments have slowed, and the reservists have been able to focus on civilian jobs. Another benefit of the unit is that the airmen are able to look out for each other in their civilian lives, and even help find work.
"There are so many people you meet in so many different career fields, that people help each other out all the time," he said.
Hitt was prior active at McChord and decided to stick around in the reserves to have a retirement, but still be able to wear the uniform, he said.
"I appreciate the military so much because it got me to where I am today," he said. "If I didn't take this route, then it wouldn't have happened."
Staff writer Steve Losey contributed to this report.
