Selva Praises Tinker’s Guard-Reserve Tanker Team

Gen. Paul Selva, head of Air Mobility Command, praised the efforts of the Oklahoma Air National Guard’s 137th Air Refueling Wing and Air Force Reserve Command’s 507th ARW during a visit to Tinker AFB, Okla. The two wings operate KC-135 tankers under one of the Air Force’s two Air Guard-Reserve Total Force associations. “Your stats are awesome, your mission performance is awesome, and your relationship speaks for itself,” said Selva during his Aug. 6 visit, according to Tinker’s mid-August release. “Having an association that works speaks volumes. Showing the association multiplies combat power speaks volumes,” he said. From integrated maintenance teams to medical units, the two wings seamlessly work together, states the release. The two units became the Air Force’s first-ever Guard-Reserve association under the Total Force Integration initiative as a result of BRAC 2005, according to the release. Since then, another one has formed in Niagara Falls, N.Y., that operates C-130s. (Tinker report by Maj. Jon Quinlan)