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Chief Master Sgt. Lorraine Regan selected as Special Assistant for Total Force Enlisted Issues on Total Force Continuum

  • Published
  • By Mary L. Harrington
  • ANG Public Affairs Officer
The Air National Guard's Chief Master Sgt. Lorraine F. Regan has been appointed as the Special Assistant for Total Force Enlisted Issues, as part of the Total Force Continuum (TF-C).  In this position, Chief Regan will act as a liaison between the field; the Command Chief Master Sgt.'s of the Air Force, Air National Guard and Air Reserve; and Headquarters, Air Force leadership.   The TF-C will continue the efforts of the Total Force Task Force (TF2).

"I am so pleased with the appointment of Chief Regan to this position," said the Air National Guard's Command Chief Master Sgt., James W. Hotaling, Jr.  "She was selected from a pool of highly qualified Chiefs, and found to be the best candidate.  We are very proud of Chief Regan, and confident that she will excel in this job, as she has done for 26 years, for both the Air National Guard and the Air Force," he said.

In this newly established active Air Force position, Chief Regan will serve as the lead enlisted voice, shaping TF-C issues.  In collaboration with three general officers including Brigadier Generals Timothy J. Cathcart (ANG), John P. Stokes (AFR) and Patrick C. Malackowski (AF), Regan will be instrumental in developing strategies to meet current and future AF requirements, ensuring that enlisted issues are fully integrated into the TF planning processes to include force structure, resource management, training, mobilizations and utilization of the Air Reserve Component.

"It's been very helpful to have first-hand experience in a variety of statuses, from active to traditional, as a mobilized member and on a statutory tour," she said. "My main goal is to ensure that the enlisted perspective across the Total Force board is a part of the integration and planning process, and that it is a big factor of consideration," she said.  "I think the TF2 has done a fantastic job to embrace the enlisted voice, with regard to all perspectives.  As part of the TFC, I am going to help further provide that voice, to the best of my ability."

Originally from Athens, Tennessee, Regan enlisted in the Air Force immediately following graduation from high school.  "I had just turned 18 years old; I came in under 'open general,' meaning I did not declare my career field," she said. "I rolled the dice and was assigned to civil engineering (CE) and became a plumber.  To this day, I replace my own faucets," she chuckled.  "I worked hard and gained great respect for CE teams...they are hard workers and skilled tradesmen."
From that assignment at Tinker Air Force Base (AFB) in Oklahoma, Regan cross trained into air traffic control, where she was assigned to Scott AFB, Illinois, Incirlik Air Base, Turkey and Tyndall AFB, Florida. 

"After about ten years of active duty, I decided to have a family," she said. "My spouse was active Air Force and I wanted to be home with our daughter, so I transferred into the Air National Guard as a traditional member."  Regan was a traditional (part-time) member of the ANG for four years.  "I cross trained again to join Personnel, assigned as a traditional member to the Readiness section of the 155th Air Refueling Wing in Lincoln, Nebraska."

In 2001, still a traditional member, Regan transferred to the 175th Weapons Group in Baltimore, Maryland, into customer service for the Military Personnel Flight.  In 2002, she was mobilized for two years to work in the ANG Crisis Action Team (CAT) Personnel Cell at the ANG Readiness Center (ANGRC) at Joint Base Andrews, Maryland.  In 2004, she was selected for a statutory tour working at the ANGRC in the AEF Deployment Execution section; followed by selection as the Superintendent of the Air Expeditionary Force, Aviation Deployment Execution and then Superintendent, Adaptive Planning and Execution.  In August 2011, she became the Chief Enlisted Manager of the National Guard Bureau Manpower, Personnel and Service Directorate (NGB/A1).

Regan emphasized that the role of the Guard and Reserve is going to grow.  "We are an operational force, so we need to make sure that all equities are presented.  What we have in common is as important as what makes us unique."

The Secretary and Chief of Staff of the Air Force established the Total Force Task Force (TF2) to conduct a comprehensive review of the Total Force, in support of the Congress-mandated National Commission on the structure of the Air Force.  TF-C will continue these efforts, with emphasis on balance and One Air Force. The National Commission's report was delivered to the President and Congress on January 31, 2014.  The recommendations in the National Commission's report include more integration and moving more force structure into the Air National Guard.