D-M practices readiness during ORE

  • Published
  • By Airman 1st Class Saphfire Cook
  • 355th Fighter Wing Public Affairs
DAVIS-MONTHAN AIR FORCE BASE, Ariz. --  They say that practice makes perfect and D-M is taking that old adage to heart when it comes to operational readiness. The base held an operational readiness exercise here Aug. 15-16.

Since the beginning of 2011, D-M has held three OREs in preparation for the official operational readiness inspection in March 2012.

Exercises and inspections can be Phase I or II. Phase I involves getting people prepared for a deployment and sending them off. Phase II is what is done while deployed. This most recent exercise was a Phase I.

"The purpose of our Phase I exercise is getting our people out the door," said Tech Sgt. Allen Spoon, 355th Communications Squadron quality assurance non-commissioned officer and one of the EET members for the 355th CS.

The EET is a group of career-field experts chosen by their respective squadron commanders. They act as an extension of the Inspector General and ensure that each squadron is prepared to complete its assigned tasks if a deployment order comes down. All EETs are members of the Desert Lightning Team and have intimate knowledge of the inner workings of their assigned squadrons.

"Being a member of the career field you are inspecting allows you to make knowledgeable assessments," Sergeant Spoon said. "If a member of IG comes into the CS, they're not going to know anything about communications and it would be easy for someone to pull the wool over their eyes. We know exactly what the Airmen are supposed to be doing and can ensure that they do it correctly."

The exercise consists of tasking Airmen to deploy, moving them through a deployment line and getting them onto a plane. It sounds easy when reduced to one simple sentence, but it requires a lot of hard work and preparation.

"About three chalks came through our shop a day," said Lt. Selina Dellafosse, 355th Force Support Squadron military personnel section chief. "We processed more than 200 Airmen during this latest exercise."

The base is scheduled to hold four more OREs before the big inspection in March.