Col. Chris Buschur new 375th AMW vice commander Published July 20, 2016 By Karen Petitt 375th Mobility Wing Public Affairs SCOTT AIR FORCE BASE, Ill. -- The 375th Air Mobility Wing welcomed its new vice wing commander in June following his last tour in Afghanistan as the deputy commander for the NATO Multinational Force. No stranger to the base, Col. Chris Buschur has served in various positions within the wing and in Air Mobility Command since 2010. His previous duties here at Scott include: operations officer, squadron commander, deputy group commander, and AMC’s chief of flight safety. During this time, he and his family made their residence in Swansea, however now the new job as the vice commander has necessitated a move onto the base. Sharon, who works as a speech pathologist, and Lauren and Madison, two busy teenagers, are adjusting to their new home surroundings, which is just a few hundred feet away from his office in the wing headquarters building. “It’s great to be so close where I could just pop in for lunch, especially since having spent the past year apart,” said the Cincinnati, Ohio, native. Having grown up in the same farming community for 18 years, he said he had always been interested in aircraft and thought that flying airplanes would be a great thing to do for a career. He visited an aunt who lived near the Air Force Academy in Colorado, and after a visit, it solidified his desire to serve in the Air Force. However, achieving the goal of flying for the Air Force would not come quick or easy. Determination and dedication were needed to make this dream achievable. When the time came, he applied to the academy, but instead they gave him a Falcon Foundation Scholarship. This scholarship sends up to 100 students who are “on the bubble” for admissions to instead attend one of four junior colleges for seasoning and to ensure the Academy is where they want to be. Buschur spent his year at Valley Forge Military Academy and College in Wayne, Penn., which is led by the Army. While that year did not count toward his time in the academy, he said it laid a strong foundation for the way the military worked and that it was “very dedicated to preparing” him for military life. “Nobody really understood why we needed this prep year, but I knew that I wanted to fly, so I just kept my sights on that goal,” he said. It paid off because he was then accepted to the Academy and spent four years there building lifelong friendships and laying the foundation for his career. Becoming a pilot though would yet again be delayed when instead of earning a pilot slot due to cuts the Air Force made during that time, he was given a slot as a navigator for the RC-135 reconnaissance aircraft. “A consistent theme seems to be that I’m always so close, but never quite over the hurdle. It was disappointing at first, because I was so close to getting one of the few pilot spots open. But, I dedicated myself to becoming a navigator, and looking back it was by far the best mission-oriented aircraft and team I had the pleasure to be part of,” he said. Stationed at Offutt AFB, Neb., the crew of 25 would deploy regularly for the next two years. During this busy time at Offutt, he met and then married his wife, Sharon, a native of Omaha. He would then go to Pensacola Naval Air Station, Fla., where he served as a flight commander and where Lauren would be born in 2000. While there he got picked up for a pilot slot and during his time in pilot training at Vance AFB, Okla., his second daughter, Madison arrived to the world. He ultimately chose to fly the C-17 Globemaster transport aircraft, and took his young family to Charleston AFB, S.C. There for the next three years this young family would experience the hardships that come with the military lifestyle. In those pre-Skype days, frequent deployments meant communication between them was limited to morale calls when possible. “I got to Charleston in 2002 after the world had changed for everyone, and it was difficult to leave my little ones and wife to care for them mostly on her own for the next four years. There was a reprieve when he went to a year of school for the Advanced Study of Air Mobility at Fort Dix, N.J., and then the family spent almost two years in the Hawaiian paradise at Hickam AFB. “It’s where my kids got into soccer and it has been a continuing passion for them ever since.” His current position is the fifth job he’s had at Scott, and he said he’s looking forward to supporting the wing in his new role. “For me the key is to focus on the goal. Once that’s established, I can focus on that like, when at 17, I thought I was going to go the Academy, but then had to work a year to meet my goal. The same thing happened with the pilot training and having to work my way through navigator school. The C-17 experience took every bit of focus for me to meet the nation’s objectives and maintain a relationship with my family. The Air Force seems to present hard things for me to overcome, but I’ve had a lot of practice in overcoming them with just being able to decipher what it is I need to do, and attacking it. Focus and thinking and strategy is what I like, so it has worked for me,” he said. And now that he’s here leading the men and women of the Showcase Wing, he said people can expect equity, fairness, stability and supportiveness from him in what he brings to the table. “I’ve enjoyed listening, and I like to help people through any problems or issues or concerns they may be facing,” he said. His experience as a vice commander in three different positions before has taught him that his agenda is to support the commander in achieving her goals and vision, and based on his experience with that, success in this area is a sure bet. No matter the circumstance, all military members should know that there are resources available to help them transition smoothly. They just need to ask for assistance. “The biggest takeaway is to be prepared. Transition starts the moment you raise your hand to serve in our great military,” said Betty Hart, the Airman and Family Readiness Center’s Transition Assistance Program manager. “Service members, veterans and spouses are all covered under the umbrella of transition and the hundreds of services and partnerships in place to support that transition process,” said Hart. Although the process can be overwhelming, it is important for service members to remember that there are programs to help guide individuals toward their goals. The first step is to ask for help.