Communication flights merge to better serve wing as new squadron

  • Published
  • By Maj. Selby Kewin
  • 916th Air Refueling Wing
Seymour Johnson Air Force Base, N.C. --  "Have you seen my pen?" "What's the phone number here?" "Who's in charge of whom?"

Members of the 916th and 716th Communications Flights were asking those types of questions and more as they moved into their new work sections during April's unit training assembly. Nearly 60 reservists have been working tirelessly over the last year to prepare for a possible merger between the flights. At long last, final approval from higher headquarters was given and a special order reactivating the 916th Communications Squadron was effective on May 12, 2007.

The 716th CF commander, Lt. Col. James Horton, was the brainchild of the merger. "As we continue to evolve in the A6 [communications] community, it is imperative we stay relevant to those fighting the war," he said. "I could not understand how the fragmented missions of two separate communications flights were contributing to the wing, much less the Air Force as a whole. Interestingly enough, no one else seemed to know either."

Major Selby Kewin, the 916th CF commander, agreed. "When I took command in 2005, both flights had spent several years in a constant state of transition. Unit members really did not have a good sense of what they were trying to accomplish or how to execute their mission in a way that supported the wing," she said. "Being the smallest flight of the two, my flight was constantly struggling to fill deployment requirements and complete readiness training. We found ourselves working more and more with the 716th and it was a great fit."

Both the 916th and 716th Communications Flights were ordered to deactivate on May 12, 2007. The 916th Communications Squadron reactivated on the same day. A redesignation ceremony was held during the June unit training assembly.

The squadron's new mission is to support the communications packages of the flying squadrons within the wing. As such, the squadron is able to set-up a fully operational communications package anywhere the flying squadrons are tasked to go.

Combining the two flights results in significant operational efficiency gains for the new squadron. While operating as two flights additional duties were performed by a primary and alternate in each flight. Additional duties were taking significant amounts of time with each duty being performed twice.

Master Sgt. Bryan Payne, 916th CS superintendent, said, "Our focus needs to be on maintaining a ready to fight posture and any improvement or efficiency that we can gain is worthwhile."

In addition to reducing the average additional duties across the unit, training is going to be more efficient for the new squadron with an integrated training schedule and one chain of command instead of two.

The 916th CS is operationally controlled by Air Mobility Command and is commanded by Lt. Col. Horton. The unit will continue to operate a 916th Air Refueling Wing Help Desk during the drill weekends with the assistance of the network shop civilian staff as well as continue to handle all wing telecommunications issues.