The importance of IMAs

  • Published
  • By Capt. Nora Eyle
  • 90th Missile Wing Public Affairs
F.E. WARREN AIR --  When I was active duty, I never really understood the role of reservists.

When I deployed to Afghanistan, I worked with many traditional reservists, and I appreciated how they were organized. They belonged to a unit composed of people like them, and they had that catchy slogan of "one weekend a month, two weeks a year."

The reservists I never seemed to understand were the individual mobility augmentees. It always seemed as if they were never around, and when they did show up, they spent half of their time training.

Now that I am an IMA, I feel many active-duty members are still confused by our purpose.
IMAs are attached to active-duty units. They are on your rosters, and if they deploy, they come off of your books. Although IMAs are supported by reserve detachment units for many personnel issues, they belong to your unit just like you do.

So, that means we show up red if we miss our flu vaccine. We test our fitness annually, just like active-duty Airmen. We need to complete all of the same computer training that you are required to do.

IMAs have 24, four-hour training units we must complete every fiscal year, along with 12 active-duty days. Many IMAs end up working more days than are required; however, there is an upper limit to how much we can work.

The main role of IMAs has always been to support the home unit when the active-duty members are deployed, on leave or temporary duty. Now, with the stress of deployments and high turnover, IMAs have been deploying more than ever before. The reason IMAs are so important to the active-duty mission is that we are familiar with your unit and protocols. We can come in with little training and pick up where you need us to.

Often, the key to using an IMA efficiently is communication between that member and their active-duty unit. Planning when training and active days should occur is vital to making sure the IMA is working on days that are convenient for them while also providing much needed support to their unit.

One thing active-duty members can do to make reservists feel welcome is by inviting them to unit events, even when they are not pulling active duty time. My unit does this all of the time, and I appreciate their efforts. It means I am familiar with the big issues they are working, and I have a strong relationship with my coworkers all year long.

Also, understanding is often required by our units on our first couple of days, since we may have to re-open our e-mail account and get some required training done immediately before we can start work.

Sometimes, IMAs can be misunderstood by active-duty members because of our additional rules and regulations, and we can be dismissed because of this. That is a big mistake, since the extra manpower is needed now more than ever.

Strong communication and organizational skills from the IMA and the unit are all it takes to ensure we are being used to help our unit an do our job.

The most important thing to remember is that we have the same goals that you do: we want to serve our country and our Air Force to the best of our ability.