Photo By Master Sgt. Jeffrey Grossi | U.S. Air Force Chief Master Sgt. Israel Nuñez, senior enlisted advisor to the Chief...... read more read more
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The jets roared and the crowds swelled over Memorial Day weekend at the Hyundai Air and Sea Show. But for the Air Force Reserve Command’s Chief Master Sgt. Israel Nuñez, the Aerial Demonstrations in Miami Beach weren't about putting on a spectacle. They were about amplifying the stories of Reserve Airmen and the Reserve Advantage.
As the AFRC command chief master sergeant and the only branch-level command chief at the Memorial Day weekend event, Nuñez used his few days at Miami Beach as a megaphone for the men and women who make up the backbone of the Air Force — the enlisted force that maintains the jets, flies the missions, treats the wounded and holds the line.
"I’m super proud to hold that title and that job and I'm so proud to be here," Nuñez said.
For Nuñez, showing up matters. The Air Force Reserve's 67,000 Reserve Airmen aren’t often the headline. As the senior enlisted advisor to the Chief of Air Force Reserve, part of his job description, as he sees it, is to change that.
"My job as a senior enlisted advisor — I oversee the organization, training, readiness and quality of life for about 54,000 enlisted Airmen in the Air Force Reserve.” Nuñez said. “These are your neighbors. These are your airline pilots who fly civilian jets during the week and then provide combat capability on the weekend via F-22s, F-35s, maintainers, medics."
Nuñez completed three media interviews during the show — two live on Fox Nation alongside retired Maj. Gen. Garrett Harencak and airshow commentator Rob Reider, and a third conducted entirely in Spanish on Radio Libre 790 with Lourdes Ubieta each centered on what he and AFRC Commander, Lt. Gen. John Healy, call the Reserve Advantage.
The pitch is straightforward: same capability at a fraction of the cost.
"We provide that exquisite, efficient combat capability to the Joint Force," Nuñez said. "We go to the same basic military training, the same officer training school, the same technical training. We provide cost efficiency — the same capability at about 30 cents on the dollar."
With roughly 80 percent of the Air Force Reserve's force serving part-time, the math is compelling. Reserve Airmen train one weekend a month and approximately 15 days a year — but they arrive fully qualified, many of them bringing decades of active duty experience with them.
"We'll take an active duty pilot who served 10 years, has all those flying hours, has instructor pilot and evaluator pilot experience," Nuñez said. "We absorb them into the Reserve. They'll fly for a [commercial] airline, but we retain that capability. The young pilots are in the active duty Air Force, but the experienced pilots and maintainers — we retain them with us."
And the U.S. Air Force Reserve is not, Nuñez was quick to emphasize, a rear force.
"Often times you think about the air reserve component as a rear force," he said. "No. We are a lead force. We are side-by-side with our active component, providing the same combat capability. You have Reserve and Guard members deployed today — absolutely deployed today, in harm's way."
The Reserve component across all services numbers roughly 800,000 strong when including both Reserve and National Guard forces — a force that operates largely out of public view, which is precisely why Nuñez believes demonstration events like the Hyundai Air and Sea Show matter.
Beyond the media engagements, Nuñez connected directly with the military community — meeting with recruiters, Special Warfare Operators, pararescuemen and the Lesser Antilles Medical Assistance Team who recently returned from innovative readiness training in the U.S. Southern Command’s area of responsibility and who responded to a medical emergency at the show. During the mass enlistment ceremony, Nuñez made a point of shaking the hand of every new Air Force recruit who raised their right hand and took the oath of enlistment at the show. More than 300 young men and women took their first steps into the U.S. military that day — 170 of them choosing the Air Force. For the command chief responsible for the welfare of enlisted Airmen the moment was personal. Every one of those recruits represents the future of the force whose story he spent the weekend telling.
For Nuñez, those interactions are the mission. Showing up, and listening to the Citizen Airmen who recruit, train, treat and fight is how a command chief does his job — not just from behind a desk, but on the ground, where the work actually happens.
“We honor them by telling their story — past, present and future”, said Nuñez. “By building on the legacy their selfless service leaves behind. By making sure, every chance we get, that story gets told.”
| Date Taken: | 05.29.2026 |
| Date Posted: | 06.01.2026 16:08 |
| Story ID: | 566445 |
| Location: | PITTSBURGH INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT AIR RESERVE STATION, PENNSYLVANIA, US |
| Web Views: | 121 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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