Exercise pace picks up in preparation for ORI Published Feb. 14, 2013 By Mike W. Ray Tinker Public Affairs TINKER AIR FORCE BASE, Okla. -- The pace of emergency response exercises at Tinker has speeded up to about one a month in preparation for a mandatory compliance and readiness inspection this fall. For example, a simulated airplane crash was conducted last November, with Tinker emergency responders coordinating with Oklahoma City police, fire and hazardous-material personnel. An "active shooter" response exercise was held in January, a training exercise is planned for mid-March, an infectious disease containment exercise is planned for April 17, a national-level Ardent Sentry 13 exercise coordinated by the Defense Department is scheduled May 17-22, and major accident response exercises are slated in June, August and October. The perennial tornado response exercise at Tinker is scheduled for Feb. 20. A tornado scenario is developed every year because Oklahoma lies in the climatic "tornado alley." "This year we have almost doubled the frequency of these training exercises," said Paul Logan, Tinker's exercise planner in the 72nd Air Base Wing Installation Exercise Program Office, in Bldg. 1. A major accident scenario typically involves mass casualties, and often hazardous materials. "We typically propose a whole range of bad things," Mr. Logan said. "Our purpose is to require fire, police and medical personnel to respond in a coordinated manner." "Most of these events are conducted at Glenwood," said Jim Wagoner, Exercise Evaluation Team Chief. The Glenwood Training Annex is a 280-acre, mile-long, half-mile-wide reservation about a mile northeast of Tinker Gate (Air Depot Boulevard) on the north side of Southeast 29th Street. Military and civilian personnel alike at Tinker Air Force Base are trained continually in how to respond to emergencies of all types, from natural disasters to man-made mayhem. "Practice makes perfect," Mr. Logan contends. Air Force Instruction 90-201 mandates a compliance and readiness inspection at every Air Force installation at least once every four years. "Our 48-month window closes" in November, Mr. Logan said. In the ORI portion, Air Force Materiel Command Headquarters at Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio, will send a team of approximately 150 people to evaluate Tinker over a period of 10 days to two weeks, Mr. Wagoner said. "During their first week here, they will take our self-assessments and fan out across the base to check for compliance," Mr. Logan said. "The second week, they will give us a wartime scenario and observe how Tinker personnel respond to it." Besides the base-wide emergency response events, various units at Tinker "probably are conducting some specific unit preparations" for the ORI, Mr. Logan said.