TYNDALL AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. -- An Airman from the 44th Fighter Group supports both U.S. Air Force Reserve and active-duty service members by providing essential information regarding benefits and duty assignments to ensure they are fully informed about all aspects of their service and growth.
Senior Airman June Dial, 44th FG personnel specialist, manages her wingmen’s military records and ensures everyone has their paperwork in good order. Though she serves as her group’s primary personnel specialist, she has enabled 325th Fighter Wing personnel specialists to help other active-duty Team Tyndall Airmen by providing extra work stations to them when their own offices were overloaded with customers.
“You deal with a lot of people’s personal information,” Dial said. “Anything from promotions to separations are processed through us; it’s really just a matter of managing records.”
As part of the 44th FG, Dial is part of a larger mission of training and projecting unrivaled 5th-generation combat airpower through mission-ready citizen Airmen.
The team is a tenant unit at the 325th Fighter Wing, as well as a subordinate unit under the 301st Fighter Wing, Naval Air Station Fort Worth Joint Reserve Base, Texas. The group was relocated to Tyndall Air Force Base, Feb. 5, 2014, as part of the Total Force Integration concept combining active-duty and reserve units.
Airmen like Dial, though traditionally reservist, work side-by-side with active-duty Airmen to provide world-class support and increase the Air Force’s readiness.
“There are a lot of 325th FW Airmen at the military personnel flight that have really had our back,” Dial said. “They’ve included us in a lot of their training and have been great at helping us stay at the same level of expertise.”
This type of integration has become more prevalent in the Air Force since the service completed an intensive analysis of all Air Force primary mission areas. The analysis provided active and Air Force Reserve component force cooperation options and reliable data to assist with future acquisition decisions. As a result, more than a dozen force-mixing recommendations were carried into the 2018 fiscal year strategic-planning process.
Though most personnel flights consist of multiple people, Dial is the only Airman currently in the 44th FG personnel section. She hasn’t let this limit her ability to provide excellent service and guidance to her fellow wingmen. According to the 44th FG Defense Enrollment Eligibility Reporting System (DEERS) and Real-Time Automated Personnel Identification System Terminal (RAPIDS) customer-service count, Dial has already helped close to 1,500 customers this year with the majority of those Airmen being active duty.
“Senior Airman Dial has shown exceptional initiative and qualities indicative of a future leader,” said Chief Master Sgt. Christie Corcoran, 44th FG superintendent. “She is a traditional reservist with one year time in service and is already performing at the level of an experienced NCO. Senior Airman Dial is the first person customers see when they walk in the 44th FG Commander’s Support Staff and she accomplishes her duties with a smile and positive attitude every day. She has assisted dependents, active duty, Guard and reserve Airmen from across Team Tyndall with various support actions.”
Dial said she originally joined the Air Force to help others and gain a leg up on continuing her education.
“I didn’t really know what I wanted to do when I first decided to join,” Dial said. “I started reading about the jobs available to me, and I felt personnel was the coolest. It peaked my interest when I saw that I could manage records and help people with their paperwork and documents. I really enjoyed the thought of being behind the scenes and ensuring all my wingmen were taken care of.”
Like many reserve Airmen in the 44th FG, Dial is on active orders and fulfills her duties just like the active-duty force.
“Once I got here and actually started doing the job, I really began to enjoy it,” Dial said. “I wanted to do more and learn as much as I could. When I first arrived here and saw the full integration of active-duty and reserve, I thought it was so cool. It’s amazing to see how well two groups can work together for a common cause.”
Dial said that a passion for helping people and her faith is what drives her to work hard and is also what inspired her to join the service in the first place.
“After I graduated college there was always something missing, and I wanted to be a part of something more,” Dial said. “I knew I wanted to go back to school and get my master’s degree in counseling, but that desire to be a part of a team was still there. I really stumbled upon the Air Force through my boyfriend. I kept seeing the teamwork and family aspect of everything. I eventually grew into wanting to join.”
Dial said her main goal is to become a counselor at the Department of Veteran Affairs.
“I think there’s a huge issue with mental health for our veterans, and I want to be able to do my part.,” Dial said. “I come from a military town, and as a kid I used to see so many men and women come back and you could just tell there was something wrong.”
Dial said she also has goals of commissioning one day and being able to use her degree for the Air Force.
Total Force Integration has allowed high-speed reservists like Dial to make a difference in the active-duty element of the 325th FW.
“The ability to offer this CSS service strengthens our relationship with the 325th FW and reinforces the effectiveness of Total Force Integration,” Corcoran said. “As a classic associate Air Force Reserve unit integrated with the 325th FW, it's important the work we do is indistinguishable from that of our active duty counterparts, ultimately contributing to the success of the operational F-22 Raptor mission, formal training F-22 mission, and T-38 Talon adversary support mission.”