NATIONAL HARBOR, Md. (AFNS) —
Healy, dual-hatted as the chief of the Air Force Reserve and commander of Air Force Reserve Command, was a featured speaker on the Building the Warfighter Mindset panel. He and three other senior Air Force officers discussed the importance of leading and empowering Airmen and sustaining a combat-ready Air Force.
The panel discussion provided Healy with an opportunity to highlight the two tasking orders he has issued during his 13-month tenure as commander, each of which are framed by his Ready Now, Transforming for the Future directives.
“We continue to get after a ready force,” Healy told the audience of hundreds of Airmen and Defense Department civilians. “In building a warrior mindset, we’re working with agile combat employment. We’re wanting our Airmen to know how they fit into a team that is ultimately providing lethal effects.”
The general’s task orders, the most recent issued in August, help to clarify Healy’s strategic priorities by ensuring all Reserve Citizen Airmen know what’s expected of them.
“The task orders speak to accountability,” he said. “It includes Airmen being responsible for their mental stability, physical fitness and medical readiness.”
He also highlighted the value of the Total Force and the Reserve’s depth, emphasizing that the Reserve needs experienced Airmen who have already served on active duty.
“We’re most effective when our affiliations come from the active-duty component,” he said. “The people with prior experience offer us an opportunity to build preparedness and readiness. We want to be truly integrating into Air Force units. This is about a total Force integration across all disciplines.”
As the panel’s time wound down, each of the generals wrapped up with some parting advice.
“Go to the basics. Know your job,” Healy said. “Be the best at your AFSC. Know where you fit into the fight.”
He closed out his advice to Airmen with a paraphrase from New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick. “Do your damn job!”
Immediately following the panel, large screens projected an Air Force Reserve mission video entitled “We’re Unstoppable!”
With booming rock music and action footage of Reservists in various mission sets, the video brought robust applause from the convention audience.
Healy then led the unveiling of a commissioned painting honoring the Reserve’s 75th anniversary with the artists who created it: Warren Neary, AFRC History Office, and retired Senior Master Sgt. Darby Perrin. The third artist, 1st Lt. Kat Justen, 459th Air Refueling Wing public affairs officer, was unable to attend the unveiling.
The Airmen honored in the painting were assigned to the 349th Air Mobility Wing, Travis Air Force Base, California; the 315th Airlift Wing, Joint Base Charleston, South Carolina; and the 3rd Wing at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Alaska. Convention organizers acknowledged several military members from these units depicted in the painting who were also in the audience.
The convention also honored the Air Force’s 12 Outstanding Airmen of the Year on Sept. 11, one of whom is Senior Airman Jacob Tawasha, assigned to the 349th Security Forces Squadron at Travis. Healy and AFRC Command Chief Israel Nuñez met with Tawasha and attended the 12 Outstanding Airmen of the Year heritage dinner.
A media roundtable kicked off the morning of Sept. 12 for Healy and Nuñez. The two leaders shared their priorities for the command with five regional and national journalists. The afternoon included a think tank roundtable discussion with Brig. Gen. Christopher Amrhein, Air Force Recruiting Service commander, and a panel of six think tank representatives.
