Guard, Reserve personnel will work together back home

Jeff Donaldson

Wednesday, May 11, 2005 | 9:34 a.m.

Air Force and Air National Guard personnel in Nevada today moved another step toward working together in integrated units.

National Guard and Reserve troops who have been called to active duty currently serve under regular Air Force commanders, but back home, National Guard soldiers' chains of command descend from the governors of their respective states.

At Nellis Air Force Base, Maj. Gen. Stephen Goldfein, the Air Warfare Center commander, and Maj. Gen. Giles Vanderhoof, Nevada National Guard adjutant general, signed a memorandum of understanding today that officially paves the way for guardsmen to train with and serve in active duty units here.

Coined the Future Total Force Initiative, the Air Force unveiled the plan in December 2004 use of the National Guard and Reserves in integrated units at six test sites, including Nellis.

Nellis is home to the Air Force's three MQ-1 Predator squadrons, which operate out of the Indian Springs Auxiliary Field, 45 miles northwest of Las Vegas.

The military initiative also calls for Predator units with guard and active duty personnel in Texas and Arizona, as well as integrated units in Utah, New York, Vermont and Virginia with missions ranging from fighter squadrons to an F-22 Raptor training squadron.

"The Air Force is growing. This brings a level of experience and stability to our units," said Capt. Steven Rolenc, Chief of Media Relations for the Air Warfare Center at Nellis.

The unmanned aerial vehicle Predator program is actually operated from Indian Springs, with some launch and recovery personnel deployed to remote locations such as the Middle East. Rolenc said most of the National Guard and Reservists will not deploy, although by training together with active duty personnel it keeps open the possibility of future deployment.

The units will operate under a structure that leaves the National Guard personnel under the administrative control of their state, but under operational control of the Air Force.

In essence, the new Future Total Force Initiative gives the Air Force back more of the investment that already has been made in developing guard and reserve airmen, military officials say. They say it also makes the units better trained -- which is important at a time when the demands of the military are placing more reserve and guard troops on the front lines.

The Nevada Air Guard's Reno-based 152nd Intelligence Squadron was a forerunner to guard and reserve units working together. That unit analyzes photo imagery sent from unmanned aerial vehicles flying in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Vanderhoof said he expects some 300 guardsmen will begin working with the Predators at Nellis and Indian Springs.