Chief Master Sgt. Israel Nuñez highlighted the value of the 800,000-strong reserve forces population across the Department of Defense and its families during the "United Forces and Families: Shaping the Guardian Experience" panel at the Air and Space Forces Association's Air, Space and Cyber Conference at National Harbor, Sept. 17.
Nuñez, dual-hatted as the senior enlisted advisor to the chief of the Air Force Reserve and AFRC command chief, was among four featured speakers on the panel. Discussion centered on the critical importance of quality care for military children, particularly in the case of the reserve forces, since a majority of the latter are traditional weekend military members.
The chief is a father himself with two daughters,
"Childcare matters to all of us," Nunez said. "This subject is near and dear to my heart. Family readiness is mission readiness. Childcare is a whole nation issue."
He spoke about opportunities has to engage with Congressional leaders often with Lt. Gen. John Healy, chief of the Air Force Reserve and commander of the Air Force Reserve Command.
"I talk with (Headquarters Air Force) and Department of Defense leadership, so that they understand our challenges at formation level," he said.
Among Nunez's most significant challenges: Communicating the various roles that reserve members fill. They don't always revolve around weekend duty.
"The reserve has multiple statuses, like active guard and reserve, part-time, and Title 5," Nunez said, adding that the reserve command has set up some successful examples of weekend childcare at a pair of reserve-owned installations: Pittsburgh Air Reserve Station, Pennsylvania, and Dobbins Air Reserve Base, Georgia.
There's more that needs to be done, and Nunez repeated his "whole nation" need for quality care of children that ultimately lends itself to core areas of the military like mission, readiness and recruiting and retention.
"We need a DoD solution for contracted, quality, and accessible day care," he said.
"Childcare starts with leadership. We urge our leadership to increase the top line and put your money where your mouth is. Childcare is personal."
Other panel members included Lt. Col. Maria Quinn, military child advocate; Leslie Janaros, Five and Thrive co-founder; and Lesley Smith, Air Force Services Center chief of Air Force Child and Youth Programs.
