Donnelly staffer 'impressed' with Grissom, Hoosier Wing

Published Oct. 2, 2014
By Mark R. W. Orders-Woempner
434th ARW Public Affairs

GRISSOM AIR RESERVE BASE, Ind. -- One might find it hard to impress a congressional staffer with an extensive background in defense and homeland security and a master's degree in strategic studies from the National Defense University, which made it all the more special that Grissom's Hoosier Wing Airmen did just that.

Rachel Lipsey, military legislative assistant for Sen. Joe Donnelly, holds all those credentials and still found herself captivated as she toured Grissom and got an up-close look at the 434th Air Refueling Wing here Sept. 4.

"It was an incredibly impressive place," remarked Lipsey. "I was struck by the amount of existing physical infrastructure and the base's capabilities."

"It's always great when we have an opportunity to showcase to our elected leaders and their staffs what our great citizen Airmen do here each and every day as the carry on the mission of the Air Force Reserve," said Col. Doug Schwartz, 434th ARW commander, who escorted Lipsey during her tour. "We're also very proud of our installation and all the hard work that goes into making it the fine place that it is."

And, while the MLA's eye was first caught by Grissom's landscape, which has been frequently compared to a beautiful college campus centered around its 12,500 foot runway, it was the Airmen she said that captured her attention as she toured the north-central Indiana base.

"Most important were the people," she said. "It's really clear Grissom's strength and the strength of the reserve is all about the smart, hard-working men and women who serve.

"I really got the feel of how their day-to-day work, pride and effort has fed into the wing's incredible performance record," Lipsey continued. "It drove home the time, dedication and accumulated skill that is held in the wing and the people that work there."

Lipsey began her tour of Grissom in the base's KC-135R Stratotanker flight deck simulator, taking off and landing a virtual tanker as Schwartz sat in the copilot seat alongside her.

"Of course, time in the simulator with Colonel Schwartz was an experience to remember," she recalled.

After a few successful take offs and landings, Lipsey then headed to the "business-end" of a virtual Stratotanker in Grissom's boom operator weapons system trainer, or BOWST, where she took the controls and refueled several military combat aircraft including an F-22 Raptor.

After her time in the simulators was through, Schwartz escorted Lipsey to see a real Grissom KC-135 in person. Once on the jet, the MLA said she found herself familiar with the controls but in amazement on the condition of the 50-year-old aircraft.

After her time on the KC-135, she then headed to Grissom's air traffic control facilities, first touring the base's radar approach control before heading nine stories up into an air traffic control tower, which provided a birds-eye view of the base.

"The 434th ARW is an excellent example of incredible assets, our people being the number one; the aircraft, which are taken such good care of along with the facilities; and the efficiency that lies in the reserve model," Lipsey concluded. "As a country, we need to take better advantage of that, and I think General Welsh has set us on that path and that Grissom can bring his vision of the total force to reality."

General Mark A. Welsh III is the Air Force Chief of Staff and testified before the Senate Armed Services Committee in April that the Air Force stood up a total force task force early last year to review the proper balance of force structure between the active force, the Air Force Reserve and the Air National Guard.

"The intent was to make our Air Force more efficient without losing operational capability or responsiveness in a crisis," Welsh told the senators.

"The mobility mission is perfectly suited for a component mix weighted toward the reserve component," Welsh added, stating that 56 percent of Air Force mobility mission already is in the reserve component.

Grissom is not only home to the 434th ARW, the largest KC-135R unit in the Air Force Reserve Command, it's also home to three Army Reserve units and a Marine Corps Reserve communications detachment.

Grissom Airmen, Soldiers and Marines routinely deploy around the world in support of the Air Force mission and U.S. strategic objectives.

Stay connected with the 434th ARW on Facebook and Twitter.

(Editor's note: Amaani Lyle, American Forces Press Service, contributed to this article.)

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Donnelly staffer 'impressed' with Grissom, Hoosier Wing

Public Affairs Staff