Ops Group hopes for the ‘win’ in the fly, fight, and win

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman Carolyn Viss
  • 7th Bomb Wing Public Affairs
DYESS AIR FORCE BASE, Texas --  Editor's note: this is the third of a four-part series on each of the 7th Bomb Wing groups and their roles in the upcoming Operational Readiness Inspection. 

When most people see the 7th Operations Group in action, they see the big, "we fly the airplanes" piece, but the group covers a lot more as part of Team Dyess and holds a lot of weight in the wing's success in the upcoming Operational Readiness Inspection. 

The group's 9th Bomb Squadron is the combat squadron responsible for flying, but the 28th Bomb Squadron - the only B-1 training squadron in the Air Force - works as part of the team as well, especially in battle staff, said Col. Charles Catoe, 7th OG commander. Also knee-deep are the 7th Operations Support Squadron, the weather flight, and all squadrons' augmentees, who step in to do whatever needs to be done. 

"The mobility process is very detailed," Colonel Catoe said. "To cover this many individuals' details and make sure paperwork is spot-on, from mobility folders to cargo manifests and weights to building palettes, it's a detail process. Details are tough to nail down, and that's an across-the-board challenge." 

No matter what we do or how well we prepare, he said, even if there are no curve balls, the Inspector General will throw us one. Everyone must be prepared. 

"Do you follow the TOs and procedures that are set?" he asked. "Do you up-channel information to get assistance from the chain of command if you need it? Those things are what will make us win the ORI." 

Although Colonel Catoe just got here in time for the last Operational Readiness Exercise, "what I have seen has been impressive," he said. 

"You can take a look at the scope of the task of the ORI, and that will tell you what a team effort it is," he emphasized. "If all it [included] was flying and dropping bombs and all we needed was operators and air planes, it would be a small ORI," but it's not. It involves the entire base. 

We get to make the most noise when we turn the engines on, but we can't flip a switch without the rest of the base, Colonel Catoe said. That includes everyone, from the medical folks keeping us healthy, to the support group who provides all those things we take for granted but we have to have, and maintainers who are right there with us the whole time getting airplanes ready to make sure they're in shape, on time, so that we can go drop bombs. 

"We don't move an air plane without maintenance," Colonel Catoe. "We wouldn't have an air field without [the civil engineers who] build pavements. Everybody's gotta eat, and have trucks and fuel, so it really and truly is a team effort." 

That teamwork is obvious when you look at the scope of the ORI, he said. Everyone who's tasked to deploy, which is what a Phase I is about, is required to do the mission. They are part of the "fly, fight and win," which means putting bombs on target. 

Proving to the higher headquarters that we can complete the mission and support combatant commanders will be the "known," the colonel continued. Base wide, the final determination on whether the ORI is going to be successful will be based on attitude. 

"We've got the technical part down, and proved it in the last ORE," Colonel Catoe said. "We've crossed our I's and dotted our T's and gotten the hard part done. Now it comes down to attitude. Put the game face on and move out. Every Airman should know what their job is - so do it the best you possibly can."