NIAGARA FALLS AIR RESERVE STATION, N.Y. -- Airmen of the 914th Airlift Wing have begun the deployment process from the Niagara Falls Air Reserve Station, Niagara Falls, NY to undisclosed location in southwest Asia.

Members from the Operations, Maintenance and Logistics groups will be departing from the Niagara Falls Air Reserve Station over the upcoming week and will be away for approximately four months in support of overseas contingency operations there.

The deployment process can be very challenging and stressful for the deploying military member and their family. However, there are Airmen in the background ensuring everything goes according to plan and nothing "falls through the cracks."

914th Airlift Wing Logistics Management Non-Commissioned Officer Staff Sgt. Bridget Williams is one of the Airmen who ensure the deployment process is successful from start to finish.

"This deployment has been the highlight for many functional areas on this base for quite a few months now."

Williams expressed pride and gratitude for the fellow Airmen she worked with during the deployment process.

"[I give] many kudos to the teams that were put in place to work this mass deployment. They played a huge role in mitigating and preventing any problems we would incur during the deployment process. Overall, it kept us busy and focused," said Sergeant Williams.

Not only does Sergeant Williams work closely with different sections of the 914th Airlift Wing, she and her team also partnered with the Air National Guard's 107th Airlift Wing, an associate unit at the NFARS.

Sergeant Williams stated she believes that there is a great need for the Guard and Reserve to work together.

"The main goal we all share is for the 914th and 107th to work side by side," Sergeant Williams said. "We are establishing procedures for the two wings to follow, satisfying the need to work in partnership and streamlining the deployment process for both wings."

Sergeant Williams elaborated on the fact that 107th Guardsmen were right in step with the 914th Reservists during this deployment process.

"Observing and sharing processes is one step we have taken towards implementing the association." She said. "It allows for experience and ideas to flow between the Wings so that we can establish a highly proficient process. Not just in the deployment world, but across the entire base."

Sergeant Williams continued to speak on how the association between the guard and reserve has been a step toward greater success at Niagara.

"It was...a wonderful opportunity to take advantage of the association, allowing us to use all of [Niagara's] resources; which, from a logistics standpoint, makes a world of a difference in efficiency."

Capt. Gina Pizziconi-Cupples, 914th Logistics Readiness squadron commander, supported the fact that the association has boosted the effectiveness of Niagara's Airmen.

"This deployment offered our team a fantastic opportunity to feel out how the communication needs to flow in order to ensure we provide superior customer service," she said.
Captain Pizziconi-Cupples believes the two associate units working together will better not only Niagara, but the Air Force as a whole.

"This deployment package allows us to test areas beginning to integrate, which is critical to building efficiencies related to the Association of the 914th and 107th Airlift Wings. In the deployed environment, seamless operations occur between Active Duty, Guard and Reserve; the more we reduce the variability between in-garrison operations and deployed operations, the better."

The 107th Airlift Wing will deploy a similar package approximately two weeks after the 914th members return. "As mentioned before, we really want to build one team here at Niagara," said Sergeant Williams. "We will work very closely to assist the 107th; we are looking forward to sharing our processes and learning from one another. It's one more opportunity towards reaching our goal of an extremely well rounded association."

(Editor's note): This association between the Air Force Reserve's 914th Airlift Wing and New York Air National Guard's 107th Airlift Wing is a result of the Defense Base Realignment and Closure Commission decision of 2005. The two wings jointly crew and maintain the aircraft in the first of its kind Air Force Reserve Component Partnership. Together they work to achieve a common goal of providing fast and reliable worldwide airlift support and have become an example for future associations to emulate.