Reserve Duty Helps Retain Our Human Advantage

By CAPT Quinton Packard, USN

This issue of Rotor Review and its theme of “The Human Advantage” is a perfect opportunity to highlight an option available to Sailors when they decide to leave the active component, aka the “Regular Navy.” Specifically, I am referring to the chance to serve in the Navy Reserve.

Now I know what you are thinking – “here we go with a Reservist sales pitch luring me from Active Duty.” Nope - far from it! I want everyone who is currently serving to stay in as long as they can. With the increasing strategic competition with China and a revanchist Russia seeking regional hegemony, there has never been a stronger need for experienced, well-trained aircrew in the cockpit, the cabin, and on the ground.

For some of you, however, the decision may have already been made - either by you or for you - to leave the Navy and pursue other options. Whether timing did not allow you to break out in a competitive wardroom or family needs are necessitating your off-ramp from active service, there may be an option for you to affiliate with the Navy Reserve and serve in a part time capacity. Michael McVay authored an outstanding article entitled “Still Flying and Serving, Just Not on Active Duty” in War on the Rocks this February. While Air Force-centric, he nonetheless identified many pertinent reasons why active-duty service members consider making the switch. But whatever the reason, the Reserve allows the Navy to recapitalize on the training investment in each of us; usually this amounts to several million dollars per person by the time a Sailor’s initial contract is up. That investment - both in money and experience - is essential to our national defense because it allows us to maintain freedom of the seas and provides us with our strongest advantage - The Human Advantage. (See what I did there?)

And if you are a helo or tilt-rotor bubba, that Reserve service falls under the Maritime Support Wing, or MSW. As the (now former) Commodore of MSW, one of the three aviation wings under Commander, Naval Air Force Reserve, I provided a mixture of Reserve advocacy and administrative control (ADCON) for over 2,200 Reservists, including a large number of Sailors in six helicopter or tilt-rotor units. These Sailors, the majority of whom are Select Reservists, continue to leverage their aviation skills part-time while pursuing civilian alternatives.

Like our active component counterparts, our Reserve units are busy. Very busy. At the time of this writing, two of MSW’s four Reserve squadrons are forward-deployed, and four of our Reserve Component Units are critical deployment enablers for their host Active Component squadrons. MSW’s two VP squadrons maintained persistent FY20-21 GFM deployment presence in INDOPACOM as well, and in FY23 will transition to the P-8A Poseidon, keeping pace with our Active Component counterparts, and our insatiable need for Maritime ISR and ASW capabilities.

Do not take this the wrong way, but the benefit of a Reserve squadron is that there are no first-tour JOs, and it is also not the first rodeo for many of our Aircrew and Maintenance personnel. This means the path to deployment readiness can be faster. Each pilot, typically coming out of a Super- JO or Department Head tour, is hand-selected to join the wardroom and arrives with a significant amount of experience. The downside to all that experience is that the squadron is capable, as the Jaguars of HSM-60 presently demonstrate, to undergo an ISATT top-off and get underway with little notice while still being the lowest risk option. To wit, within days of notification, HSM-60 got a detachment underway a full five months ahead of their scheduled GFM deployment.

Meanwhile, the Firehawks of HSC-85 are always able to perform most HSC missions, but their current mission requires a higher training standard to execute their SOF Support and Combat Search and Rescue tasking. Their unique Dedicated Special Operations Support syllabus - informed by but set apart from the Seahawk Weapons & Tactics Program - helps feed their persistently forward-deployed detachment enough properly trained combat crews. The squadron supports multiple INDOPACOM Lines of Effort, from building partner nation military capacity through JCS and unit-level SOF exercises to on-call dedicated rotary lift for combat operations. Like HSM-60, they also have a wardroom of pilots on at least their second tour.

HM-14 and HM-15, while active component squadrons, are the standard bearers for the benefits of active/reserve integration. Each command has over 150 Reservists who support the squadrons’ missions and help keep Big Iron flying. At any given time, reservists serve alongside their active counterparts on HM-14’s forward deployed detachment in South Korea or HM-15’s detachment in Bahrain, providing critical skills to support airborne mine countermeasures and vertical onboard delivery support.

HSC-3’s Southern California Offshore Range (SCORE) Det supports Third Fleet training and readiness requirements by providing range support on San Clemente Island, most often supporting anti-submarine warfare (ASW) training through the launch and recovery of underwater and aerial drone targets. Constructed as a distinct squadron detachment under HSC-3, the SCORE Det also provides support to California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, or CALFIRE. As the firefighting program managers for the local Helicopter Sea Combat Wing Pacific squadrons, the SCORE Det gained nationwide attention in July 2020 when they were called upon to lead the aerial firefighting efforts for Bonhomme Richard. During that event, they provided unprecedented round-the-clock firefighting support…and the Navy’s first-ever nighttime airborne firefighting!

Lastly, as the newest members to MSW, the VRM Community is a growth industry for the Navy Reserve. VRM- 30 currently has a growing number of Reservists, many of whom have transferred from the Marine Corps, and who are the most experienced in airframe in the command. Mobilized Reservists have recently returned from the squadron’s inaugural deployment on USS Carl Vinson while more have just departed on USS Abraham Lincoln. In the coming years, Navy Reserve personnel will also be added to a similar construct at VRM-40 and VRM-50

Despite the high op tempo for these units, the Select Reservists who have been mobilized have been 100% volunteer. Most part-time Sailors are juggling family and civilian career requirements along with their military service. So, their commands collaborate with them to schedule when they can provide more squadron support with longer-term active orders. It allows for significant personnel flexibility while still meeting their readiness goals. In some cases, Sailors can augment their income with extended orders. Full time students, for example, might come on orders during the summer session. Others volunteer for extended service if they are in between jobs.

Finally, the Navy Reserve offers an easier transition to civilian life once you start down that path. One of the most common refrains made by those who have left the uniform is that they “miss the people.” Making up less than 1% of the U.S. population, servicemembers are a rare breed in our society. They’ve shared unique experiences in some of the harshest environments and have created a bond that is unlike any “on the other side.” Being able to don a flight suit one weekend a month, knock the rust off your aviation skills, and log some flight time is a great way to scratch that itch and get paid doing it!

In summary, the Navy Reserve is a terrific way to leverage the training and experience of Sailors who plan to leave active duty. The net result is a win-win - the Navy retains its outstanding young men and women part-time while they start their new careers, and the Sailors get to keep one foot in the military door, earn supplemental income, and stay in the aircraft. For rotary-wing and tilt-rotor aircrew, you can get more information on those opportunities through the Maritime Support Wing at MSW_Ops@navy.mil. Thanks for all you do, and I will see you in the Fleet!