Second AFRES commander visits 301st Reservists

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. Kristin Mack
  • 301st Fighter Wing
NAVAL AIR STATION JOINT RESERVE BASE FORT WORTH, Texas --  A firsthand account of the inception of the 301st Fighter Wing and history of the Air Force Reserve was revealed when a former Air Force Reserve commander who played a key role in developing this unit paid a visit to Reservists here during the August unit training assembly. 

Maj. Gen. Homer I. Lewis (retired) flew in from South Texas aboard his private aircraft to be the guest speaker of the Chapter 70 Reserve Officer Association's meeting Saturday, August 5. 

Welcoming him as he stepped off the plane with his friend and pilot, Bill White (a former Air Force pilot), were an entourage of greeters who were just as excited to see him, as he was to see them and the base. It has been 32 years since his last visit here. 

"I want to see what the 301st looks like today and I'm really impressed," said General Lewis. "Everything has changed. It looks really amazing." 

As he walked around the base, his face beamed with excitement and he greeted everyone with a friendly smile. He made his way over to the civil engineers building to give a talk to the ROA, which was opened up to the base populace to attend on this special occasion. 

"Thank you for inviting me today ... I want to tell you where you're coming from and where you've been," said General Lewis. "This is a fascinating story." 

The general knows "this" story better than almost anyone else today. He was selected by the U.S. President in 1971 to become the second Chief of the Air Force Reserve and assumed the position of Commander of the Air Force Reserve in 1972 as an additional duty. This made him the first person in Air Force Reserve history to wear the dual hat of commander and chief. This dual role still continues today. 

"What is interesting is, Air Force history doesn't say anything but facts, figures, names, dates and places ... just like it is -- but there is no romance," said General Lewis. "I'm a romantic. I want to tell you what really happened and how we got to where we are." 

He told the story of how the 301st began. Due to a handshake agreement that the Air National Guard would be responsible for fighter missions and the Air Force Reserve would handle "heavies", the reserve component did not have any fighter units at first. Somehow the guard wound up with both airlift and fighter capability, so a change in the reserve mission was appropriate. As the Vietnam conflict drew to a close, they were deciding where to place the aircraft and weapon systems that were coming back to the United States. Most of the equipment was headed straight to Air National Guard units until General Lewis swiftly intervened. 

"The program manager told me, I will give you an F-105 wing if you can make an exemplary transition," said General Lewis. "So when the 105s were available, they gave them to the Reserve, provided that we would perform in exemplary position. I said we'll do that or I will resign." 

Once the aircraft was established, it was an even a greater task to find good people to fly and fix them. 

"It was quite a challenge to find qualified pilots," said General Lewis. "We looked all over and didn't find any so I went to Fort Wayne, Indiana, to select John Taylor from the Air National Guard to be the commander. He had that look in his eyes." 

So it was then the wing began. It was also around this same time that the ROA chapter began. "We got really involved in ROA; went to Washington and started encouraging everyone to be involved," said General Lewis. 

General Lewis still remains actively involved with the ROA and it was at the ROA Texas state convention where he met Capt. April Schroeder, 301st Maintenance Group executive officer. 

"When he found out I was from the 301st Fighter Wing, General Lewis' face lit up," said Captain Schroeder. "He has a real soft spot for this wing." 

The conversation sparked a lot of questions and soon led to an invitation to speak at the next ROA meeting, which General Lewis gladly accepted. 

Although today he organizes ranches (five total - two in Mexico and three in Texas) instead of squadrons, General Lewis continues to spend a lot of his time supporting today's military.