BUCKLEY AIR FORCE BASE, Colo. -- As another year comes to a close, it’s time to take a break and to reflect on some of our accomplishments. I’d like to take a moment to encourage you to spend time with your friends and family this holiday season, remind you to watch for those who may struggle, and to highlight just a few of HQ RIO’s activities this year.
So many of our Individual Reservists are hard-charging, proactive, get-it-done people! Sometimes, in our drive for mission accomplishment, we get wrapped up in what we’re doing and forget to take a step back, relax and strengthen our relationships with our families, friends and support networks. The holiday season is a great time to do just that. I want to encourage everyone to put some projects on the back burner, unplug from your email at the end of the work day, and make a point to spend quality and quantity time with your loved ones. Not only will it make you feel good now, but it will also build that social pillar of resiliency that’s so important when times get tough.
While this season is one of joy for many of us, for some the holidays are fraught with hardship and emotion. Look around you and be watchful for those who might need a friend or place to belong during the season. You may also wish to consider donating to a program that supports those in need. There are many people who need a little help during the holidays, and everyone can make a difference in one way or another.
As I reflect on 2016, it’s evident that the professionals on my staff here at HQ RIO have worked extremely hard to improve things for both our Individual Reservists and our active-component customers. We received approval to permanently place orders writers in the Detachments, which will help streamline the orders process. We also received approval to move the IMA Travel Office from Dobbins Air Reserve Base, Georgia, to Buckley Air Force Base, Colorado.
This will allow our Reserve Pay Office and IMA Travel Office to be co-located, while also providing direct commander and ARPC/FM oversight of all our financial operations. While moves like this always come with some bumps in the road, we ultimately expect to greatly enhance the pay and travel reimbursement functions for our IRs. Another big accomplishment this year has been an organizational restructure that eliminated our integration cell and created our force management team, a shift designed to streamline our internal processes in order to better serve IRs. Along with ongoing process standardization at the detachment level, these changes should make it faster and easier for IRs to accomplish the personnel tasks that keep their careers moving forward.
Please, take time to relax this holiday season, recharge your batteries, build your resiliency and be ever vigilant for the wellbeing of your wingmen. I look forward to another successful year in 2017!
Happy Holidays!