Liberty Warriors earn goal day

  • Published
  • By Airman 1st Class Ashley Zamora
  • 48th Fighter Wing Public Affairs
RAF LAKENHEATH, England --  Liberty Warriors earned a goal day Jan. 11 for exceeding USAFE criteria.

According to Capt. Tracey Bryant, 48th Fighter Wing executive officer, there are several categories the wing had to meet in order to earn a goal day including: enlisted performance reports timeliness, personal individual medical readiness, physical health assessments, dental and fitness tests timeliness.

"The 48th Fighter Wing excelled in all areas, resulting in a goal day," he said.

Airmen surpassed the standard of completing physical fitness tests on time. The USAFE expectation of delinquencies was four percent and RAF Lakenheath had little more than one percent overdue.

"Physical fitness is crucial for our force's deployment readiness 24/7," said Tech. Sgt. Lorraine Detaeye, 48th Communications Squadron physical training leader. "PT testing on time ensures you're ready to go when needed, but being fit isn't just for deployments."

Sergeant Detaeye added being "Fit to Fight" extends to a healthier lifestyle.

The 48th Dental Squadron also exceeded USAFE expectations by surpassing the 95 percent goal of keeping Airmen in dental class one and two, meaning the Airmen need little or no dental work.

"It's important for all Liberty Warriors to be able to deploy at a moment's notice," said Col. Douglas C. Wilson, 48th Medical Dental Squadron commander. "I would rather prevent a small problem now by focusing on prevention, and keeping people in classes one and two, than have to deal with a larger one later."

Another criteria was on-time EPRs. Liberty Warriors had all EPRs in on time and therefore beat the USAFE goal of 20 late turn-ins per every one thousand EPRs due.

Personal individual medical readiness tracks six things that tells an Airman they can deploy any time. The 48th Aeromedical Squadron Public Health Flight tracks physical heath assessments, dental status, immunizations, lab test completion, duty limiting conditions and equipment readiness.

"If anyone of these is red, the individual is not deployable," said Tech. Sgt. Dirk Tidwell, 48th AMDS Public Health. "Flu shots were the big driver. As of Jan. 1, the flu shot started being counted against the compliance rate, and Lakenheath was outstanding."

Because Liberty Warriors worked to ensure we we're compliant in all these areas, Jan. 11 is a goal day.

"I want to thank everyone for their hard work. Each Liberty Warrior helped ensure we exceeded all USAFE criteria, earning the Liberty Wing this well-deserved goal day," said Brig. Gen. John Hesterman, 48th FW commander. "Thank you for taking such good care of each other and our wing."