Dyess Airmen make history

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman Felicia Juenke
  • 7th Bomb Wing Public Affairs
DYESS AIR FORCE BASE, Texas --  The 317th Airlift Group received an excellent overall grade during the Air Force's first homeland-defense Operational Readiness Inspection held at the Gulfport Combat Readiness Training Center, Gulfport, Miss.

The group mobilized to Gulfport, Miss., where they operated in a simulated hostile environment alongside Air National Guard and Air Force Reserve units.

As with traditional ORIs, this one tested the ability of each unit to mobilize personnel and equipment, fly to a remote site, operate in a hostile environment, defend against attacks and redeploy back home -- all while Air Mobility Command inspectors evaluate each phase of the operation. The units worked together, for a week, fighting multiple simulated "terrorist attacks" and other homeland security scenarios.

Unlike traditional ORIs, participants were tasked with supporting civil authorities while fighting an unconventional foe in the United States. In the past, ORIs typically required units to deploy to simulated overseas bases and defend against conventional military forces.

Col. Dan Dagher, 317th Airlift Group commander, said, "In the mid 1990s, if someone had told me C-130s would have missiles launched against them, I wouldn't have believed it," he explained. "Yet for the last nine years, we have had to dodge missiles and bullets in Operations Iraqi and Enduring Freedom.

"On Sept. 10, 2001, if I was told someone would fly airplanes into the Pentagon or World Trade Center, I wouldn't have believed them. Today, if I am told someone could detonate a chemical weapon in the United States, I am inclined to believe.

"The 317th, 123rd and 70th are ready -- and now tested -- to meet the challenge, reduce human suffering and save lives. If an attack on the homeland happens, we will be the first responders. Americans can sleep better knowing the 317th, 123rd and 70th can provide defense support to civil authorities in the United States, and the very survival of thousands of those Americans rests on our now-tested ability to immediately respond and perform mass-casualty medical evacuations after a chemical attack."