10:54 PM PDT on Thursday, July 22, 2010

By MARK MUCKENFUSS
The Press-Enterprise

Efforts are under way to station a contingent of active-duty Air Force troops at March Air Reserve Base.

Lt. Gen. Charles E. Stenner Jr., chief of the Air Force Reserve and the commander for the Air Force Reserve Command, was in Riverside on Thursday for the 12th annual Raincross Trophy Dinner. During a break in his schedule, the man whose domain includes the oversight of March Air Reserve Base spoke about a coming change in the way the base will operate.

Stenner said a program called Total Force Integration will infuse just over 200 active-duty airmen into the March base as part of an Air Force initiative to increase the response capability of the military. The troops will begin to arrive in September or October.

“We’re rebalancing to mix active with reserve components, so we can accommodate (demands upon the force),” Stenner said during an interview in a meeting room at the Mission Inn.

While he does not see a reduction in personnel numbers for the Air Force Reserve, he said he does not expect Congress to increase the Reserve’s funding.

“What did Winston Churchill say? ‘We are out of money, so we must think’,” he said. “When you bring in that active-duty force and mix it with the reserve force, that gives us a lot of flexibility. It also allows us to surge when there is a requirement to do so.”

The general said the increased manpower at March might mean that a certain number of personnel could respond to mission demands at other bases. Those bases in turn might assist others, creating a domino effect that will impact the entire Air Force. The hope, he said, is that the Air Force will be able to respond more quickly and more effectively.

March will be one of the first reserve bases to be affected by the change.

“March is unique,” Stenner said. “When it comes to the C-17, March is our unit-equipped base. So this will be a test case, well, not really a test case, because we know it’s going to work.”

One of the first military air training bases when it was established in 1918, March became a reserve base in 1996. It is home to the 452nd Air Mobility Wing, the 4th Air Force and several Air National Guard units. It has a fleet of nine C-17 Globemaster III transport planes and 12 KC-135 refueling planes. About 4,000 reservists are stationed there, including about 1,000 who make it their full-time job.

The model for the new program is predicated on a shift that was made in 1968 to use reserve forces to supplement strategic airlift missions. This time, at least at March, the change will be in the opposite direction, but the goal is the same.

Stenner was scheduled to preside over an evening of awards presented to outstanding Air Force personnel. The event is sponsored by the Greater Riverside Chambers of Commerce.

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