Air Force Reserve Command leadership came full circle during a whirlwind tour throughout Connecticut to prepare our next Department of the Air Force leaders and to give back to their community roots that helped shape their military careers.
“It is beyond surreal,” Lt. Gen. John P. Healy, chief of the Air Force Reserve and commander of the Air Force Reserve Command. “It makes retirement a real thing knowing this is where I started 37 years ago.”
Healy, a 1985 graduate of Windsor High School and 1989 graduate of the University of Connecticut, visited with current students and cadets enrolled in the Air Force Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps program at Windsor High School and with newly commissioned second lieutenants from Detachment 115, University of Connecticut. Since childhood, Healy knew he wanted to be a pilot in the U.S. Air Force and pursued that dream starting in high school supported by strong academics and participation in sports.
“I was pretty determined and I put my mind to that when I was a kid,” said Healy. “Being part of organizations, groups and teams was great because we were working toward a singular purpose.”
Healy stressed that there were a lot of opportunities to take left turns but knowing your goals, hanging out with the right crowd, staying physically fit and focusing on your grades is key.
“If I wanted to be a pilot in the Air Force, I couldn’t do that if I had drug use, wasn’t physically fit, or if my grades weren’t high enough,” added Healy. “I knew that bad choices in high school would prohibit me from going on and doing what I wanted to do.”
Accompanying Healy during the Connecticut tour, Chief Master Sgt. Israel Nuñez, command chief of AFRC and senior enlisted advisor to the CAFR, as an AFJROTC cadet and later an ROTC cadet in Puerto Rico, underscored the importance of staying focused on your north star.
"I grew up in the inner city of New York. I'm very proud to say that I grew up in the streets of Brooklyn, and I didn't really picture myself ... as a senior ranking member of the Air Force Reserve," said Nuñez. “You have to have determination, perseverance, and never let one moment dictate the rest of your career, because sometimes you’re going to hit barriers and roadblocks.”
He credits his JROTC instructor for setting him on a solid path in life.
“Adversity is going to happen – it’s part of reality,” said Nuñez. “You have to decide, are you willing to overcome that adversity or accept it. For me, that’s the most important lesson I’ve learned.”
Those life lessons were echoed during visits to the Wilson-Gray YMCA Youth and Family Center and the Samuel S. Gray, Jr. Boys & Girls Club at Asylum Hill. Both Reserve leaders were heavily involved in local YMCA and Boys & Girls Clubs throughout their youth and viewed this trip as an opportunity to pay it forward.
“I think part of our responsibility as Airmen is to be able to give back to the community and to be to share and tell our story,” said Nuñez. “[This visit] was an opportunity for young men and women to see the Air Force, and the military in a different light, as humans who grew up in very similar circumstances, and found a different opportunity.”
He added that their stories may “inspire others, not just to join the military, but inspire them to be more and do more despite your circumstances.”
Along with visiting youth at local non-profits, the Reserve leadership team also spent time with Rep. Joe Courtney (CT-02) discussing issues that affect Reserve Airmen, such as Quality of Life and Duty Status Reform. While visiting with University of Connecticut leadership, discussions focused on research and development in support of DAF additive manufacturing needs, industry collaboration and workforce development.
Healy highlighted the Reserve’s own workforce development program, called Bullpens, which leverages an Airman’s civilian expertise to help solve some of the DAF’s toughest challenges.
“We have people who are civilians at universities but do another job in the Reserve,” said Healy. “These Bullpens are a collective of hired guns – where do you need us.”
Healy also toured the Pratt & Whitney Middletown Engine Center which produces and tests engines in support of a number of U.S. Air Force fighter aircraft as well as the KC-46 Pegasus.
He lauded the efforts made by the industry partner that help keep the Reserve force ready for every DAF mission.
“Across the board at the unit level where we need support to things like lethality, the customer support has always been fabulous,” said Healy.
During the Det 115 Commissioning Ceremony, Healy laid out the leadership expectations of the DAF’s newest 13 lieutenants as they join the fight.
“We are facing peer adversaries right now who go to work every single day, studying our playbook and trying to figure out how to defeat us,” said Healy. “Knowing your opponents are working day and night should motivate you to work even harder to stay ahead.”
Recalling what he learned during his time as a cadet at Det 115, Healy emphasized the need for continuous learning and risk taking.
“Your number one job is to be the absolute best at your craft. Fail fast, fail forward, break things, deter aggression and defend our way of life,” said Healy. “Your charge is to keep learning and do your job with excellence. I hope you are excited – I know I was.”
Looking back over the three-day trip, the one word heard more than once from Healy about his time spent returning to where it all stated was ‘gratifying.’
“Seeing the high school and university, and what I did there and where it led – it worked,” he said. “With the local community, with industry, the local congressman, all of those things are part of my past and it’s really neat to be able to have ties to all of that even today. It’s extremely gratifying to be home again.”