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JBSA News
NEWS | Oct. 25, 2017

Reserve duty offers benefits to Airmen from health professions, other career fields

By Robert Goetz 502nd Air Base Wing Public Affairs

Air Force members who plan to separate from active duty often choose to maintain their ties to the military by opting for a reserve commitment that gives them the opportunity to work in the civilian sector and still serve their country.

That pathway to the Air Force Reserve is called the Palace Front program, and it is so popular that more than 30 percent of separating active-duty members committed to the program in the 2016 fiscal year.

           

The program is mutually beneficial for the separating member and the Reserve, which is able to meet its manpower needs and augment its ranks with experienced veterans from numerous career fields.

           

Some of the Air Force Reserve’s greatest needs are in the health professions.

           

“We will always have a need for physicians and dentists,” said Master Sgt. Andrew Davis, 433rd Airlift Wing health professions recruiter.

           

Davis, whose recruiting area covers one-third of Texas, including Joint Base San Antonio and Laughlin Air Force Base, said he meets with physicians and dentists who are separating from active duty as part of their out-processing checklist.

           

“When they separate, I want to make sure I talk to them face to face and let them know what the Reserve offers,” he said.

           

One of the benefits for physicians and dentists who join the Reserve is that they will have time in service added to their record if they attended medical school with assistance from the Health Professions Scholarship Program or the Financial Assistance Program, Davis said.

           

 “You get years added to your service time and credit that time to your retirement,” he said. “You receive that as long as you don’t have any break in service. You’re not eligible if you’re already 100 percent separated.”

           

Some of the other benefits mirror those of other active-duty members who transition into the Reserve, Davis said.

           

“These include being able to continue serving part time, being able to focus on a civilian career, having no permanent changes of station, receiving low-cost TRICARE Reserve Select health care benefits and being able to retire after 20 years,” he said.

Still other benefits of being a reservist include opportunities for advancement, paid vacation, training, tuition assistance and access to base exchanges, commissaries, fitness centers and other amenities.
            

Traditional reservists serve one weekend per month plus another 15 days of active duty, but individual mobilization augmentees have even more flexibility, Davis said.

           

“You can be part of an active-duty unit for 39 days,” he said. “You can choose all that time at once, or you can divide the time by coordinating with your squadron commander. In addition, you do not deploy; you backfill the positions of active-duty members who deploy.”

           

Davis said he can place the physicians and dentists he recruits anywhere they want to go.

           

“I look for a position in the place of their preference,” he said.

           

Physicians, dentists and other health care professionals make more money in the civilian sector, but by serving as reservists, they maintain their military benefits and enhance their retirement pay.

           

“When I meet with them face to face and show them how years of reserve duty affect their annuity, that speaks volumes,” Davis said.

           

There’s another reason to serve, too.

           

“They want to be part of something bigger than they are,” he said.

           

For Palace Front information on physicians and dentists, call Davis at 210-387-6449. For medical officer specialties other than physicians and dentists and for other Air Force career fields, call Master Sgt. Cindy Rositas at JBSA-Lackland (last names A-J), 210-671-3860; Master Sgt. Kyle Swinney at JBSA-Lackland (last names K-Z), 210-671-7362; or Master Sgt. George Higgins at JBSA-Randolph, 210-652-7532.