BUCKLEY AIR FORCE BASE, Colorado -- Headquarters Readiness and Integration Organization hosted its first ever All Call for Individual Reservists August 28, 2020. More than 450 Airmen from around the world attended the event, which was presented virtually.
HQ RIO, based out of Buckley Air Force Base, Colorado, is responsible for managing the readiness of more than 7,000 IRs stationed worldwide. Due to its members being geographically separated, an All Call was not possible before recent technology.
Since the pandemic hit in early 2020, the Air Force has been researching ways to enhance telework capabilities, including the Microsoft Teams-based Commercial Virtual Remote (CVR) Environment. One of its capabilities is a CVR Live Event, which allows for hundreds of attendees to access the event without an account or log in. These advances gave HQ RIO the opportunity to connect with its Individual Reservists in a completely unprecedented way.
The All Call began with Col. Amy Boehle, HQ RIO commander, thanking the members for their service and for choosing to be IRs. She added it is not always easy, but ensured the attendees that HQ RIO is working to make it better each day.
“You are at the center of our decision-making process every day,” Boehle said. “We always ask, ‘will this decision or action make it better or worse for an IR? If it’s going to make it worse, we don’t do it. If it’s going to make it better, we go down that path and fight that fight for you.’”
Chief Master Sgt. Stacy Wilfong, HQ RIO command chief, reiterated their efforts.
She said leadership has been working with Air Force Reserve Command to make IR processes seamless and “make it easier from the minute you get gained all the way through your duration with HQ RIO.”
The event also answered pre-submitted questions, and gave reservists the opportunity to ask hundreds of questions in the CVR chat function which were answered in real time by moderators from HQ RIO and detachment staff.
The event was recorded and can be found here, along with the previous CVR HQ RIO virtual training sessions.