14 days until Operational Readiness Inspection

  • Published
  • By Brandice J. Armstrong
  • Tinker Public Affairs
A joint operational readiness inspection is two weeks away and officials said Tinker is ready for it.

The knowledge is based on the results of War Wagon 10-01, a week-long exercise that wrapped Oct. 9. The last scheduled-formal exercise before the ORI was held at Glenwood Training Annex, just north of Tinker on Southeast 29th Street.

"We've demonstrated our ability to perform all the tasks presented to the teams," said Paul Logan, exercise designer for the Installation Exercise Program Office. "We're very proficient in recognizing and properly marking unexploded ordnance, self-aid buddy care and all of our ability-to-survive-and-operate tasks."

Designed for Tinker's Air Force Materiel Command units, 552nd Air Control Wing and 3rd Combat Communications Group, the exercise scenario encouraged installation personnel to aid allies by sending cargo to a forward location to deter hostile nations.

Mr. Logan said the purpose of the exercise was to ensure Tinker units could work well together, while applying a professional attitude and paying attention to detail.

And they did, said Master Sgt. Rodney Washington, an exercise evaluator and unit deployment monitor for the 72nd Operations Support Squadron.

"I saw a lot of people wanting to learn and a lot of teamwork," he said. "Everybody just seemed receptive to learning what they needed to get ready and represent Tinker well."

After the deployment line, participants accessed the exercise by walking through an 18-foot by 64-foot double-temper tent, or transition tent.

The tent allowed incoming Airmen to be briefed about authentication codes and distress words, and inspected to ensure their uniform was right before walking into a "war zone."

Once in the "war zone," Airmen were tested on their knowledge such as decontaminating themselves from one area to another and wrapping up equipment by demonstrating processes taught in the past.

Sergeant Washington said the exercise was realistic for what is expected for the ORI and Glenwood will be set up in a similar fashion for the inspection.