ORI Focus – Get ready for kick off Published Feb. 10, 2011 By Col. Kevin Lamberth 22nd Air Refueling Wing vice commander MCCONNELL AIR FORCE BASE, Kan. -- As many of you know by now, our Wing Operational Readiness Inspection will occur Oct. 19 to 26. The Air Mobility Command's Office of the Inspector General conducts ORIs to test a unit's deployment, war fighting and redeployment capabilities. For this fall's inspection, the 22 ARW will partner with the 931st Air Refueling Group from McConnell, the 185th Air Refueling Wing from Sioux City, Iowa and the 81st Aerial Port Squadron from Charleston Air Force Base, S.C. An ORI is a venue for assessing Unit Type Codes from various units, combined into an expeditionary wing. The goal is a doctrinally sound scenario that emphasizes team building and fosters an expeditionary culture, thus mirroring real-world operations. It has four major graded areas: Positioning the Force, Employing the Force, Sustaining the Force and Ability to Survive and Operate. An IG team of about 150 inspectors normally conducts ORIs at one of the Air National Guard's Combat Readiness Training Centers. The CRTC will be our deployed Forward Operation Location where we'll exercise jointly with our ORI partners. As of now, our FOL has yet to be determined. Everyone will be involved in the ORI to some degree. Whether providing support to get airplanes, cargo, and personnel to our FOL, or actually deploying forward, this will be a "total" team effort. Everyone is integral to our success. For those that have never been through one, an ORI requires a great deal of preparation, and ours has already begun. There have been two Part Task Trainers led by respective group planners, the most recent being a refresher on ATSO. Essentially, ATSO tests our capability to survive and fight a war using chemical gear in different Mission Oriented Protective Postures, or MOPP-level scenarios. At least one activity will occur each month as we narrow our focus towards October. February 11 to 17 is our first Operational Readiness Exercise. In this ORE, we'll practice all phases of an ORI scenario; i.e., generating aircraft, personnel and cargo; our ATSO while fighting a war; and finally redeployment. The remainder of the road to the ORI events are included below. February is our chance to kick things off. In June, we will actually participate in a fly-away to a FOL, just like we'll be doing in the actual inspection. I ask for your attention throughout our preparation efforts. I understand the ORI is eight months away, but those few months will fly by. A great attitude and sense of urgency will not only help us get ready for it, but will also be key doing well. We've proven ourselves more than fit to fight two wars, deploying in small numbers and as individual units. This ORE, and subsequent ORI, will help us grow our ability to pack up, deploy and wage war as an expeditionary wing. The ORI is an extremely important milestone for Team McConnell, and I urge each of you to take this seriously, prepare yourselves accordingly and to make sure we're more than ready. You do great things every single day, and make it look easy. With that, our goal for the ORI is no less than an Excellent! Feb. 11 to 17 -- ORE 11-01 March (to be determined --) PTT April (TBD) -- PTT May 9 to 13 -- ORE 11-02 June 24 to July 2 -- ORE 11-03 Fly Away Aug. 14 to 26 -- ORE 11-04 (Potential Fly Away) September (TBD) -- PTT Oct. 19 to 26 -- ORI 12-01B