Employers 'deploy' for a day at Dogpatch

  • Published
  • By Senior Master Sgt. Sandi Michon
  • 439th AW Public Affairs
WESTOVER AIR RESERVE BASE, Mass. - --  Westover's Employer Appreciation Day turned into Employer Education Day when 21 Reservists' bosses "mobilized" Oct. 4, as part of Operation Bosslift.
An air of uncertainty fell on the group as they processed through a mobility line. With mobility folder in hand, they fielded questions about their wills, family care, and spiritual care. They faced a glove-clad "medic" with a huge hypodermic needle. "I hope your shot record is up-to-date," he told each one.
After a mock intelligence briefing, employers consulted their Airman's Manuals to answer Self-Aid-and-Buddy-Care questions, and used them to identify Unexploded Ordnance (UXO) models.
Following a chemical warfare brief, two teams raced to don the complete ensemble, correctly. The jubilant winner won the right to sit in the jump seat during the C-5 flight.
The emerging "Employer Expeditionary Force" headed to Dogpatch for lunch and more just-in-time training. But the skilled professionals looked more like a kindergarten field trip as they sat on wooden benches in the hooch laughing and struggling with their Meals-Ready-to-Eat (MREs).
The somewhat-fed "recruits" then got serious, divided into three groups, received their field tasking, and trekked to their "unit." One group built an actual cargo pallet, another triaged a "patient" and loaded the litter onto a Humvee, and the third actually took down an intruder that "broke red" into a secured area.
After the employers finished their tasks, Reservists from the 58th Aerial Port, the 439th Aeromedical Staging Squadron and the 439th Security Forces Squadron performed the same tasks - highlighting their sharp skills by the contrast.
Maryanne Cataldo, CEO of City Lights Electrical Company in Canton, Mass., headed up the pallet building team and was slightly-winded when they were done. "This is hard work," she said. "How many of these did they put together in Afghanistan?" Employers listened with renewed interest as Senior Master Sgt. Craig Savoie reviewed his unit's responsibilities while deployed to Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan earlier this year.
Richard Devine was the accidental ringer in the security forces field exercise. When the "intruder," played by 439th SFS Airman Christopher Overy, did not respond to verbal warnings, Devine smacked him with the foam asp and took him down.
"I've got a story to take back to the sheriff's department; they think I'm too old to still do this," he bragged. Devine is security director with the Hampden City Sheriff's Department and supervises Master Sgt. Richard Garcia who is deployed to Balad Air Base with the 42nd Aerial Port.
Although the employer medical team may have harmed a real patient, the dummy survived the ordeal. The 439th ASTS showed exactly how it should be done and applied the skills to their real-world deployment to Balad AB earlier this year.
The reservist teams picked star performers from each group to sit in the navigator and jump seats in the cockpit during the afternoon C-5 "deployment" flight. Their two-hour deployment ended back at Westover for a social at the Club and presentations from actual deployments and briefings by representatives from the Connecticut and Massachusetts Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve.
Mr. Devine summed up the result.
"I've worked with Reservists for years and heard about their two-week tours and reserve weekends, but you don't really picture what they're doing," he said.
"This morning, I saw the Airman's Manual, the different things they have to learn, the different things they have to do. You really get an understanding about their training and skill levels."