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  • Published
  • By Lt. Gen. Richard Scobee
ROBINS AIR FORCE BASE, Ga. --  Heroes of the Air Force Reserve: I’m honored and humbled to take command of this outstanding organization.

I’ve been a Reservist for 18 years. Like many Citizen Airmen, I joined the Air Force Reserve because my family needed stability, which the Reserve could provide. So, after 14 years in the Air Force, I “changed patches” and became a Citizen Airman.

When I walked through the doors of my new Reserve unit, I felt like I’d just come home.

The Reserve still feels like home today, which is why I’ve remained a Citizen Airman for nearly two decades. Over the years, I’ve had the opportunity to serve with many amazing individuals. I’ve witnessed their accomplishments in peacetime and in combat, and I can attest that our people are our greatest asset. When we take care of our Airmen, they take care of the mission.

I’ve been privileged to serve at every level of command, but my roots are in the unit. The squadron is where I grew up. That’s where the majority of our Citizen Airmen serve. Our squadrons execute the mission, they are the heart of our Air Force.

As chief of the Air Force Reserve and commander of Air Force Reserve Command, my focus is on our Citizen Airmen and our Reserve squadrons. Your objective is the mission, and my purpose is to ensure your success.

The mission of the Air Force Reserve is to provide strategic depth and operational support to the Joint Force. Our Citizen Airmen and squadrons must be lethal, combat-ready forces. My intent is to prioritize strategic depth and accelerate readiness, to guarantee we can execute today’s missions and triumph in tomorrow’s fight.

A squadron is only as good as its leadership. While the ultimate responsibility for a unit belongs to its commander, there are commissioned and noncommissioned leaders at all levels of our organization. Our success depends on all our leaders.

All must be capable, able to accomplish the mission and focused on caring for Airmen. My intent is to develop resilient leaders who can optimize unit performance, maintain readiness in peacetime and win in war.

The core value of “Excellence in All We Do” includes providing excellent support to Airmen. Our organizational operations, structure and processes greatly impact our Airmen and squadrons. This year, we began correcting problems in several areas, including medical readiness, talent management and financial operations, and we will continue to fix outdated practices and cumbersome processes.

My intent is to reform our organization, remove internal hindrances and modernize our force structure, allowing our Airmen and squadrons to focus on warfighting.

Readiness, leadership and organizational operations are all key components to our success and to our nation’s defense. But the most critical element of all is our culture. It influences every aspect of our organization, including unit performance, cohesion, morale, readiness and retention. We must keep the faith with our Airmen, enhance trust and create the right culture across the enterprise – a culture where Airmen feel valued for their contributions.

The culture of the Air Force Reserve was what made my first Reserve squadron feel like home. It’s the reason I still wear the uniform today.
The Air Force Reserve is about the mission. It’s about our Citizen Airmen and our squadrons.

My goal is to create an environment where people want to stay and serve. I want our Airmen to be motivated to do great things and to be able to serve to their full potential.

Ultimately, all Reserve Citizen Airmen should walk into their unit and feel as if they’re home.