USCENTCOM hosts 100 MacDill AF IMAs

  • Published
  • By Airman 1st Class Adam R. Shanks
  • 6th Air Mobility Wing Public Affairs

More than 100 Air Force Reserve Airmen gathered at MacDill Air Force Base, Florida, April 26-27, 2018 for a U.S. Central Command Individual Mobilization Augmentee assembly.

In celebration of U.S. Air Force Reserve’s 70 years of service, IMA Airmen from USCENTCOM, U.S. Special Operations Command, U.S. Special Operations Command Central, and the 927th Air Refueling Wing shared professional military education opportunities, offered mentorship and fostered networking capabilities.

As IMAs, these Citizen Airmen hone their craft during their daily occupations and bring their expertise to share in their military service.

“IMAs serve a very unique role as they step in whenever their active-duty counterpart has to leave on a temporary duty assignment, or deployments for example,” said Chief Master Sgt. Mark Catledge, the Air Force IMA senior enlisted advisor assigned to USCENTCOM. “They perform their duties the same as active-duty, and ensures that their unit’s mission goes on.”

The assembly was joined by Chief Master Sgt. Ericka Kelly, the command chief of Headquarters Air Force Reserve Command, Robins AFB, Georgia.

“An assembly like this is incredibly beneficial to IMA Airmen, because it allows them to sync up, share their stories to others and network,” said Kelly. “These Citizen Airmen bring a unique perspective to the fight, since they spend most of their time working in a civilian capacity, possibly in an occupation that doesn’t correspond to their Air Force career.

“They can live all over the country and come from many backgrounds, but they selflessly support the Air Force’s mission whenever called upon.”

The assembly allowed IMAs to talk to their leadership in an open forum and maintain a dialogue for future opportunities, concerns and how to best serve the AFRC’s mission in providing combat-ready forces to fly, fight and win.