JOINT BASE MCGUIRE-DIX-LAKEHURST -- JOINT BASE MCGUIRE-DIX-LAKEHURST, N.J. — The 514th Air Mobility Wing executed 83% of its flying-hour program during the longest government shutdown in U.S. history, relying on a skeleton crew and reservists willing to work without a pay timeline, to keep aircraft in the air through six weeks of funding restrictions.
"The most important thing we accomplished was continuing to execute our mission," said Col. Thad Amundson, 514th AMW commander. "It took the very hard work of a very few people."
The shutdown furloughed every civilian and Air Reserve Technician in the wing except for the wing financial manager. Specifically furloughed were group commanders and squadrons’ directors of operations: the full-time leadership who keep a Reserve unit running. Our Active Guard Reserve members remained on active-duty status and handled daily tasks. Many traditional reservists volunteered to fly training missions despite no guarantee of when they'd see a paycheck.
"We had members willing to come out and fly even though they didn't know when they would get paid," Amundson said. "The guarantee was, you will eventually get paid for duty performed, but we don't know when."
During October, the wing flew 14 of 17 planned local training sorties. None were canceled for lack of aircrew participation. The three cancelled training missions were grounded by maintenance issues and a base-wide stand down day. Two off-station training missions that were postponed in October were accomplished in early November, with the shutdown still ongoing.
Air Force Reserve Command made it clear: training wouldn't stop. That directive from higher headquarters meant the small number of people still working had to cover everything—mission planning, coordination, and execution—that would normally be spread across dozens of staff members.
Only two positions were automatically excepted from the furlough: wing commander and financial manager.
Then came the real headache: planning and executing two Unit Training Assemblies scheduled during the shutdown for the 1,600-member wing. While the UTAs were deemed excepted activities, any members that were needed in advance to plan the UTA had to be identified and their orders and travel presented to AFRC leadership prior to execution.
Any reservist coming on orders had to clearly associate their duty with an "excepted activity." All those orders needed Fourth Air Force pre-approval. Travel orders needed another layer of approval directly from the AFRC commander, the only person in AFRC who could authorize travel.
Sharon Ingram, the wing's financial manager and only excepted civilian employee, processed thousands of orders and travel authorizations for pay. All while closing out one fiscal year and opening another. Amundson didn't mince words about the workload: "It was just an exorbitant amount of work, not to mention you're supposed to be in close-out for financial purposes and transitioning to a new fiscal year."
ARTs could be called back on a case-by-case basis for excepted activities. Amundson recalled ARTs the week before each UTA to prepare. AGR members stayed on duty throughout, stepping into leadership roles normally filled by furloughed group commanders and squadron directors of operation. Amundson designated an AGR point of contact in each unit to keep communication flowing.
The shutdown ended November 13. Civilian employees were given administrative leave on that day to arrange childcare and handle personal business. Most returned to work November 14.
Operations have now resumed at full staffing, but the aftermath lingers. Awards, decorations, performance reports, promotion recommendation forms—the administrative work that keeps careers moving forward—all backed up during those six weeks.
The biggest lesson, according to Amundson, was communication. Most people thought the shutdown would last maybe a week. It stretched to six. Getting information to furloughed personnel and the skeleton crew still working became his defining challenge.
"Communication was the biggest challenge—getting the word out to all the furloughed folks and also the folks who were here working during the shutdown," he said.
But here's what didn't suffer: readiness. Traditional reservists showed up as scheduled for October and November UTAs. The mission got done.
"Our drilling reservists who primarily come in on a UTA were here in October and trained and drilled, and they were here in November and trained and drilled," Amundson said. "The shutdown's impact on our readiness and training was minimal. Our people stepped up when it mattered most."