UDMs, IDOs give advice for upcoming ORI

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman Carolyn Viss
  • 7th Bomb Wing Public Affairs
DYESS AIR FORCE BASE, Texas --  Dyess is in the throes of practicing, improving, and readying its force as the Operational Readiness Inspection date creeps closer and closer. 

These Operational Readiness Exercises and Inspections exist in order to ensure the team's readiness for real-world deployments. 

Gary Stock, the 7th Operations Support Squadron unit deployment manager, reminds Airmen of what the top priorities are and gives advice on how the wing can do well.
"[One of the] things we really need the most help with right now is getting readiness training accomplished at a minimum of two weeks before an exercise," Mr. Stock said. "We know ahead of time when the ORE is going to occur, so the best thing to do is just get the training done." 

Making sure flight chiefs don't change the names of their players at the last minute will also help everything go smoothly, he said. On the other hand, if every single Airman's training is current and ready to go, they will have the flexibility to choose a member to step in for one of the deployers, if necessary. 

"The better prepared you are, the more time you'll have with your friends and family before you leave," he said. 

Because there are so many people and so much work involved with OREs and ORIs, it's important for every Airman to do his part. 

Come prepared to pre-process, Mr. Stock said. Some units ask their Airmen to show up two hours early in case they have forgotten a mandatory item. This will allow Airmen to run back to their office or home to get what they need. And if everyone is patient and does their jobs, "they'll be in and out by the end of the day," he said. 

"I expect us to do well," the seasoned UDM said. "I've seen us make a lot of strides over the last few months. We're setting ourselves up for success, and I think we're going to win." 

In fact, the 7th BW has made some significant improvements in cargo and personnel movement during the last several OREs, said Capt. Glen Langdon, installation deployment officer. It's also an area in which the 7th BW can still make improvements. 

"We need to fine-tune the processes, and make sure we're dotting our I's and crossing our T's," he said. "We have gotten significantly better every time, and now it's time for us to really accelerate." 

On the deployment side of the house, "you need to be sure that chalks are ready to load on time and won't be rejected by the inspectors, " the captain said. 

We've had some changes with the way we've done our courier process in the wing, he said. "Now we're asking the wing to bulk ship weapons and ammunition. That changes the processes we use, so now we're doing a lot of courier training and systematic or procedural adjustments to make sure we're doing everything correctly and accounting for our property." 

"The goal is outstanding, and I certainly think we're capable of doing that," the captain said. "We've made a lot of progress over the last year, and I think it'll really shine through and show during this inspection."