Reserve leaders mentor tomorrow’s military officers and deepen community ties

The Air Force Reserve’s top leaders returned to Connecticut for a three-day swing focused on mentorship, community outreach, and strengthening ties with universities, industry, and lawmakers.

Lt. Gen. John P. Healy, chief of the Air Force Reserve and commander of Air Force Reserve Command, visited his alma maters—Windsor High School and the University of Connecticut—meeting Air Force Junior ROTC cadets, newly commissioned second lieutenants from Detachment 115, and local youth. “It is beyond surreal,” said Healy. “It makes retirement a real thing knowing this is where I started 37 years ago.”

A 1985 graduate of Windsor High and 1989 graduate of UConn, Healy told students his path to the cockpit began early, backed by academics and athletics. “I was pretty determined and I put my mind to that when I was a kid,” said Healy. “Being part of organizations, groups and teams was great because we were working toward a singular purpose.”

He urged cadets to keep long-term goals in view and make choices that support them. “If I wanted to be a pilot in the Air Force, I couldn’t do that if I had drug use, wasn’t physically fit, or if my grades weren’t high enough,” added Healy. “I knew that bad choices in high school would prohibit me from going on and doing what I wanted to do.”

Healy was accompanied by Chief Master Sgt. Israel Nuñez, the command chief of AFRC and senior enlisted advisor to the chief of the Air Force Reserve, who shared his own trajectory from New York City to the service’s senior ranks. “I grew up in the inner city of New York. I’m very proud to say that I grew up in the streets of Brooklyn, and I didn’t really picture myself … as a senior ranking member of the Air Force Reserve,” said Nuñez. “You have to have determination, perseverance, and never let one moment dictate the rest of your career, because sometimes you’re going to hit barriers and roadblocks.”

Nuñez credited a JROTC instructor with setting him on course and emphasized resilience. “Adversity is going to happen – it’s part of reality,” said Nuñez. “You have to decide, are you willing to overcome that adversity or accept it. For me, that’s the most important lesson I’ve learned.”

The pair visited the Wilson-Gray YMCA Youth and Family Center and the Samuel S. Gray, Jr. Boys & Girls Club at Asylum Hill—organizations they engaged with as youths—to underscore service and mentorship. “I think part of our responsibility as Airmen is to be able to give back to the community and to share and tell our story,” said Nuñez. “This visit was an opportunity for young men and women to see the Air Force, and the military in a different light, as humans who grew up in very similar circumstances, and found a different opportunity.” He added that their stories may “inspire others, not just to join the military, but inspire them to be more and do more despite your circumstances.”

Beyond youth outreach, Healy and Nuñez met Rep. Joe Courtney (CT-02) to discuss issues affecting Reserve Airmen, including Quality of Life and Duty Status Reform. At UConn, they conferred with university leaders about research and development supporting Department of the Air Force additive manufacturing, along with industry collaboration and workforce development.

Healy spotlighted a Reserve initiative called Bullpens, which taps Airmen’s civilian skills to solve complex challenges. “We have people who are civilians at universities but do another job in the Reserve,” said Healy. “These Bullpens are a collective of hired guns – where do you need us.”

The itinerary also included a tour of Pratt & Whitney’s Middletown Engine Center, which produces and tests engines for multiple U.S. Air Force fighter aircraft and the KC-46 Pegasus. Healy praised the company’s support to operational needs. “Across the board at the unit level where we need support to things like lethality, the customer support has always been fabulous,” said Healy.

At Detachment 115’s commissioning ceremony, Healy addressed leadership expectations for the service’s newest officers. “We are facing peer adversaries right now who go to work every single day, studying our playbook and trying to figure out how to defeat us,” said Healy. “Knowing your opponents are working day and night should motivate you to work even harder to stay ahead.”

He urged them to commit to mastery and embrace prudent risk. “Your number one job is to be the absolute best at your craft. Fail fast, fail forward, break things, deter aggression and defend our way of life,” said Healy. “Your charge is to keep learning and do your job with excellence. I hope you are excited – I know I was.”

Reflecting on the visit, Healy described the return to his roots as a capstone moment. “Seeing the high school and university, and what I did there and where it led – it worked,” he said. “With the local community, with industry, the local congressman, all of those things are part of my past and it’s really neat to be able to have ties to all of that even today. It’s extremely gratifying to be home again.”