Reserve employers get a treat on Armed Forces Day

  • Published
  • By Technical Sgt. Charlie Miller
  • 445th Airlift Wing
WRIGHT-PATTERSON AFB, Ohio --  About 40 employers of 445th Airlift Wing airmen celebrated Armed Forces Day with a visit to the base and flight in a C-5 Galaxy aircraft on Employer Appreciation Day, May 19, 2007. The employers came from West Virginia, Kentucky, Cincinnati, Dayton, Springfield and other areas to see exactly where their Air Force reservist employees work and what they do on drill weekends.

Employers and reservists gathered for breakfast at the base banquet center and listened to two briefings to start the day off.  Before the briefs began, Brig. Gen. Bruce Davis, 445th AW commander gave a short history on the wing and thanked them for their support. 

The first briefing was an introduction about the wing followed by an Employer of Guard and Reserve or ESGR briefing given by Mr. Joe Ellis from Ohio ESGR. 

"Currently there are 2,300 Guardsmen and Reservists mobilized from the state of Ohio," said Mr. Ellis. "I thank you for supporting them and your continuing support."

Before the flight, which took the employers and about 20 reservists accompanying them to Niagara Falls, N.Y. and back to Wright-Patt, the 445th Security Forces Squadron displayed a variety of weapons, night vision goggles and an indoor shooting range. The 87th Aerial Port Squadron also provided a demonstration of their various aircraft uploading and downloading equipment, moving over 35,000 pounds of cargo off a C-5.

"I'd seen the C-141 but this is my first time with the C-5 and it's incredible," said Phil Sinewe from Bearing Point Management and Technology Consultants. "You hear a lot of people complain about the amount of money being spent by the military but when you see this, you know the military is doing things right, you know things are not short changed in any way."

"I'm really impressed by the size of the C-5," said Mike Englowski of Mad River Local Schools.

After the two hour flight which included lunch and a visit to the flight deck, employers were given a certificate of appreciation and a goodie bag to take with them.

"You guys should be proud of what you do," said Leslie Adams from Oak Pavilion Nursing Center. "Everyone here is very informative, very polite. I'm looking into the student job shadow program for my 12 year old son. This is definitely cool. I've been talking about this for two weeks now. I was disappointed that I couldn't shoot a rocket launcher. I've always been fascinated by the military. This is my first time on an Air Force Base."
 
"It's good to have this," said Maj. Scott Huddle from the 445th Aerospace Medicine Squadron. " It's good that the employers can see the impact of what the Air Force Reserve does."

The majority of the sentiment was summed up in a few short words by Glenn Mahaffy from the U.S. Postal Service and a Marine Corps veteran. "This was really impressive."