Reserve Components Aviation / By COL J. Ray Davis: Greetings again from your Army National Guard (ARNG). This month I’d like to highlight/review the results of the recent AAAA Army Aviation Mission Solutions Summit, from an ARNG perspective. Aside from the dinners, concert, hospitality suites, and trinket-collecting, we actually used this forum to get things done.
One of the highlights for the Guard was the second iteration of its Readiness & Resources Review (R3). At this forum, we brought brigade commanders of units early in their sustainable readiness model (SRM) cycle together (in this case, the 28th and 34th CABs), along with the resourcers who could provide training opportunities – ARNG-AV, FORSCOM, and First Army. Together they hammered out the details of the units’ five-year progressive readiness plans, from equipment fieldings to combat training center (CTC) participation to actual mobilization dates. There were no PowerPoint slides, and we kept it to a small number of participants, thereby ensuring productivity!
We were also fortunate to have some high-level leaders speak to us (state army aviation officers [SAAOs]; ARNG aviation brigade commanders and command sergeants major; and selected Aviation and Safety Division staff officers):
- LTG Timothy Kadavy – our ARNG Director gave us his vision for the future of ARNG Aviation
- MG William Gayler – our new Aviation Branch Chief outlined the challenges for our current fleet of aircraft
- MG(Ret.) Ray Carpenter – our former Director described the process and product of the National Commission on the Future of the Army (NCFA).
- BG Benjamin Adams – our Guard G.O. on the Fort Rucker command team reviewed some of the challenges and requirements of Guard trainees while attending institutional training.
As a follow-up to a few of the more critical discussions we held, here are our points of contact – send them your ideas and recommendations. No one knows the challenges and solutions better than those on the front line!
- Air Traffic Services: Mr. Greg Alexander; This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
- ARMS Way forward: CW5 Mike Jewett; This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
- Aviation Multi-Component Pilot Program (NCFA#34): Mr. Kevin Scherrer; This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
- Aviation Training Strategy: MAJ Craig Dupuy; This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
- Domestic Operations: Mr. Bill Squires; This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
- Fleet Management: LTC Dudley Capps; This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
- Full-Time Manning; Ms. Susan Niemitz; This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
- Resource Management: Mr. Bob Tamplet; This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
- Sustainable Readiness & Mobilizations: Mr. Marvin Iavecchia; This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
- UAS Readiness & Culture: LTC Steve Sawyer; This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Hopefully many of you visited our ARNG Aviation Booth on the exhibit floor. If you did, you got to see the Army’s impressive air traffic control simulator and speak to a few of our outstanding Guard Aviation professionals.
Finally, summer has arrived. Baseball, barbeques, and beaches. Oh, and apple pie, AFTPs, and ANNUAL TRAINING. I encourage leaders in all components – but especially Guard leaders – to ask themselves the following three questions before heading out for those summer marquis training events:
- Have I incorporated units from the other components (INTEGRATION)?
- How will this training increase my unit’s collective proficiency (READINESS)?
- Have I trained my subordinate leaders well on risk management (SAFETY)?
Happy June… You’re cleared to REDCON1.
COL J. Ray Davis is the chief of the Army National Guard Aviation and Safety Division located in Arlington, VA.
Attendees at the 2016 ARNG Leader Symposium listen to AAAA National President and former Aviation Branch Chief, BG (Ret.) E.J. Sinclair on April 29 at the Georgia World Congress Center, Atlanta./AAPI PHOTO BY RENÉ BIDEZ
