Reserve Policy Committee Meets, Focuses on Great Power Competition

SALT LAKE CITY, Utah --

How Great Power Competition (GPC) is impacting the Reserve Component was at the forefront of the discussion when the Air Reserve Forces Policy Committee (ARFPC) met for its mid-year Full Conference Forum here in June.

"This is your opportunity to speak up, make your voices heard and determine what we can do collaboratively as a team to find solutions to some of the problems we're considering in this forum," said Troy McIntosh, deputy assistant secretary of the Air Force for Reserve Affairs and Airman and Guardian Readiness and the secretary of the Air Force representative to the ARFPC, to the attendees. "Remember that what we're working with today are policies and instructions that were written for a different time. Today, we need to be thinking about what the Air Force of the future needs."

The committee is chartered to provide the secretary of the Air Force and the chief of staff of the Air Force unfiltered, objective and independent advice regarding major policy matters directly affecting the Air Reserve Components and the mobilization preparedness of the Department of the Air Force.

"Prior to this forum, we sent a call out to the field for our Airmen to identify the challenges they're seeing in the field with regard to Great Power Competition," said Maj. Gen. Vanessa Dornhoefer, mobilization assistant to the deputy chief of staff for Logistics, Engineering and Force Protection and ARFPC chair. "We need to ensure we're seeing the full picture of these challenges so we can address the impacts of GPC on our Guard and Reserve components."

During its second of two forums for the calendar year, Maj. Gen. C. McCauley von Hoffman, deputy to the chief of the Air Force Reserve, spoke to the council on Air Force Reserve leadership priorities.

The general referenced the 24 key decisions announced earlier this year by the secretary of the Air Force to reoptimize forces to meet strategic challenges as it relates to GPC. Von Hoffman's talk centered on a subset of those 24 decisions that have the greatest Air Force Reserve equity.

"I'll echo Lt. Gen. Healy's sentiment that where the Air Force goes is where the Air Force Reserve is going to go," she said, referring to Lt. Gen. John P. Healy, chief of the Air Force Reserve and commander of Air Force Reserve Command.

The council used the mid-year forum to discuss expansion of the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act, the Global Force Management Allocation Plan, updates to Defense Department Form 214-1 (the Reserve Component Addendum to the Certificate of Uniformed Service), digital automation and Air Reserve Component utilization.

Some of the committee's recent achievements include policy changes that enhance Basic Allowance for Housing for Airmen attending long technical schools and making several key improvements to health care services.

"This body is made up of changemakers and problem solvers," said Maj. Gen. Ginger Gaglio, Air National Guard assistant to the commander of Air Force Materiel Command and ARFPC vice chair. "We need to remind ourselves every time we meet that our charter is to look at where the disconnects are in Air Force policy that we can change for the better to improve the Total Force. Sometimes we find a problem that is part of a bigger issue, but that smaller problem can be fixed with a change in policy. Let's focus on how we can keep getting after fixing those smaller problems in order to keep getting those wins for our Airmen."

The ARFPC is comprised of five primary and three alternate officers each from the regular Air Force, the Air National Guard and the Air Force Reserve in the grade of brigadier general and above and includes representatives from the Space Force and the Civil Air Patrol. Members are appointed to serve a three-year term by the secretary of the Air Force for Manpower and Reserve Affairs as delegated by the secretary of the Air Force.

The committee is then broken down into two subcommittees on both Air National Guard and Air Force Reserve policy. The ARFPC receives its topics via submission from the field. The body votes on which submissions to address based on mission need and assigns a general officer champion to work that issue to completion. Issues that are voted not to be taken on by the committee receive follow-on guidance and connections from the ARFPC staff for how to address that issue.

"We've looked back through the committee's history books and in ARFPC's 68 years of existence, the Air Force has seemingly dealt with similar issues, but today's challenges are different, and the risks are different," Dornhoefer said. "I encourage us to keep at the front of our minds, 'If not us, then who, and if not now, then when?'"

Citizen Airmen and Air Guardsmen are encouraged to contact the committee directly at [email protected] with recommendations for policy or legislative issues that will help improve the Total Force.

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