Ramstein one step closer to ORI finish line

  • Published
  • By Tech. Sgt. Michael Voss
  • 86th Airlift Wing Public Affairs
RAMSTEIN AIR BASE, Germany --  As the 86th Airlift Wing and the 435th Air Ground Operations Wing have made their way through operational readiness exercises since December, preparing for the upcoming operational readiness inspection, the question is: are we getting better at deploying forces and defending our base?

Over the course of the last 200 days, Team Ramstein Airmen have learned what acronyms like personnel deployment facility (PDF) line, mopp transition point (MTP) and post attack reconnaissance (PAR). Ramstein Inspections and Readiness Flight inspectors have checked hundreds of Airmen, from E-1 to O-6, for correct use of personal chemical protective equipment and quizzed countless others on ability to survive and operate procedures.

Prior to December's White Lightning Exercise, Ramstein Inspections and Readiness Chief Lt. Col. Joseph Roth, stated, "OREs are like mid-term tests, and the ORI is the final exam."

While preparing for our final exam, each ORE has continued to increase in difficulty to reach a near -inspector-General level of realism. From the first phase I and phase II exercise last year, in which only a few hundred Airmen played on the side of the base, to our ORE last week where nearly everyone plays in their work center, Ramstein Airmen have come a long way.

And don't say we didn't warn you the inspections were going to get harder.

"The exercise looked like the ORI," said Master Sgt. David Gallagher, Ramstein Inspections and Readiness superintendent, during an interview after the May ORE. "But, the next two OREs are going to definitely have the ORI feel; it's going to get more challenging."

In addition to more involvement of base personnel, the latest ORE, Wing Lightning 10-04, has added base-wide injects, stressing the limits of some of the players as well as the systems in place to help the base recover from attacks.

"The exercises are definitely getting harder," said Airman 1st Class Mandalyn Starkovich, 86th Dental Laboratory technician and moulage victim for the May ATSO training exercise here. "The inspectors are scrutinizing everything more heavily, looking at the details. I think we still have work to do, but by the end of the next exercise, we will be ready."

So as the wing has progressed, fine-tuning our final ORI preparations with only one more exercise left before the final. What can we expect to see tested from our exercise evaluation team members next?

"There are no more surprises," said Maj. Michael Pontiff, Ramstein Inspections and Readiness deputy chief. "We are simply refining our processes at this point. The next ORE is the last chance to improve our processes and ensure we are ready for the IG."