Another Dose of Preparation O...-R-I

  • Published
  • By A1C Tiffany M. Deuel
  • 48 FW/PA
ROYAL AIR FORCE LAKENHEATH, England --  After the success of Phase I, the Liberty Airman recently finished Phase II of the Operational Readiness Exercise before the Operational Readiness Inspection, and they continued to show improvement.

"The wing is continuing to hone its combat skills; the growth, development and improvement we've seen across the board since starting this preparation in July has been nothing short of exceptional," said Lt. Col. Thomas McGrath, 48th Fighter Wing Plans and Inspections chief.

The wing was tested on several facets, to include wearing Mission Oriented Protective Posture gear.

"For one of our shop's exercises, I had to dress up in MOPP gear. I haven't done that in a while so the time element was a bit stressful for me, however I'm happy to be practicing so I can be prepared for the inspection," said Airman 1st Class Erin Zabarnick, 48th Fighter Wing Public Affairs broadcaster.

Although the Airmen have proven themselves to be ready for the upcoming ORI, there is always extra room for improvement.

"We've seen some tremendous exhibitions of professionalism and excellence this week. Areas we can continue to improve upon are communication, sense of urgency and treating all injects and challenges as real-world, rather than giving in to the temptation of this is only make believe," said Lt. Col. McGrath.

Each individual should treat each exercise scenario as if it were a real-world situation because the ORE is vital to making the ORI a success.

Airman Zabarnick said, "The ORE is important to me because I truly believe in the core value of Excellence in All We Do. The ORE has given me the opportunity to be as prepared as possible for a deployment situation where there are no second chances. I learned you can never have too much practice."

With the ORI right around the corner, it is time to put all that practice and preparation into practice and prove to the inspectors that RAF Lakenheath is ready for action.