According to Air Force Gen. Norton Schwartz, head of US Transportation Command, the way to measure a military member is “whether people will follow.” Schwartz indicated that Air Force Reserve Command Brig. Gen. Harold Mitchell is such a leader as he pinned on Mitchell’s second star during a ceremony at Scott AFB, Ill. Mitchell, who started his military career as a Marine Corps aviator, now serves as TRANSCOM’s reserve component director when he is not flying for Alaskan Airlines. He left the service to become an airline pilot and, in 1983, joined the Air Force Reserve.
Amid a high-profile recruiting crisis, Air Force leaders and experts have increasingly noted the challenging long-term trends the service will face in enticing young Americans to sign up—decreasing eligibility to serve, less propensity to do so, and less familiarity with the military. But while those same leaders say there’s no “silver…