Citizen Airmen support Operation Unified Protector

Published April 12, 2011
By Tech. Sgt. Stacy Gault
313th Air Expeditionary Wing

WESTERN EUROPE -- Like any typical Saturday, Master Sgt. Jocelyn Fredrick planned to spend the weekend with her two young children.

But a phone call early in the morning changed all that.

Sergeant Fredrick, an intelligence specialist with the 171st Air Refueling Wing in Pittsburgh, was called to serve in Operation Odyssey Dawn and had approximately 24 hours to prepare to deploy.

As a mother, she had to transition from changing diapers to presenting classified briefings. Now serving with the 313th Air Expeditionary Wing with U.S. Air Forces in Europe, Sergeant Fredrick is responsible for monitoring adversaries and controlling top-secret information.

On April 1, the 313th mission transitioned to Operation Unified Protector, a NATO-led mission in Libya to protect civilians and civilian-populated areas under threat of attack. The wing provides aerial refueling to U.S. and coalition aircraft with KC-135 Stratotankers and KC-10 Extenders.

Serving a state and federal mission, Guardsmen are expected to be ready at a moment's notice. They balance a military and civilian life, but at any time can be called away from their civilian life to serve on active duty.

"I got a phone call from the base to be ready to deploy," said Sergeant Fredrick, "so I took the kids to the park as planned, got one last grocery shopping trip in and went home to pack."

Members of the Air National Guard may have very different civilian occupations from their positions in the military.

Staff Sgt. Stephen Paluga, an avionics technician with the 313th AEW, brokers stocks for Charles Schwab & Co, Inc. in Scottsdale, Ariz., when he's not repairing the navigation systems of a KC-135.

"It's relieving to have two very different careers," said Sergeant Paluga, a member of the 161st Air Refueling Wing in Phoenix, Ariz. As a stockbroker, he takes trades from clients and exchanges them on the New York Stock Exchange or Nasdaq and provides advice for selecting mutual funds.

Although his careers differ, Sergeant Paluga's attention to detail applies to his work in both jobs. "When you place trades, if you're off by one number you could cause an error against yourself worth millions of dollars," he said.

Sergeant Frederick agreed, saying her patience and ability to multitask as a mother are very useful in a deployed environment.

With the variety of education benefits the Air National Guard offers, many Airmen are enrolled in higher education, which can be a challenge when an unplanned deployment arises.

Staff Sgt. Ty Beatty, a junior majoring in education at Youngstown State University in Youngstown, Ohio, was ready to return from spring break and prepare for finals when he was activated by his home unit, the 171st ARW.

He spent four years on active duty at MacDill Air Force Base, Fla., and is sharing his experience from previous deployments with the younger Airmen.

"I went from being the student to the teacher." Beatty said. "It's a 180 degree turn."