Operational Readiness Exercise tests Airmen Published Feb. 29, 2012 By Staff Sgt.Stephenie Wade 375th Air Mobility Wing Public Affairs SCOTT AIR FORCE BASE, Ill. -- Intense training took place Feb. 21-24 at Scott Air Force Base as 161 Airmen from the 375th Air Mobility Wing put their "ability to survive and operate," or ATSO, skills to the test during the first Operational Readiness Exercise of 2012. The 375th AMW plans additional exercises throughout the year as it ramps up to its Operational Readiness Inspection scheduled for June 2013. The wing will be undergoing the ORI with three other wings: The 130th Airlift Wing, W.Va. Air National Guard (serving as lead wing), 153rd Airlift Wing, Wyo. ANG, and the 89th Airlift Wing, Joint Base Andrews, Md. Even though Scott AFB will not serve as the lead wing, they plan to prepare like one. "When we do home station exercises we have to take over some of the ownership a lead wing would usually take," said Charley Mills, 375th AMW Plans, Programs, and Readiness chief. "The main objective of this ORE is to train on the reception and employment phases of the wing's wartime deployment mission." The wing created a simulated forward deployed base using the 375th Logistics Readiness Squadron compound, warehouse district and Hangar 3 area for the exercise. Once Airmen arrived at "Base X," they stood up the base by filling sand bags and assigning team roles. During the next few days, exercise evaluation team members injected battle-related scenarios for their career fields while deployed members worked to protect themselves and the base during simulated ground and air attacks. For first-time ORE player, Senior Airman Steven Smith, 375th Contracting Squadron, that meant providing contracting support throughout "Base X" so the base could be established properly. "I (also) learned how to use post-attack reconnaissance (known as PAR) team skills, and how to work together with other Airman to complete that mission," said Smith. Members of the PAR team are among the first to be released after an attack and work a vital support skill because they let the players know when it's safe to venture outside. The aftermath of a chemical, biological, or missile attack, can be confusing, so the PAR teams become the eyes and ears for commanders and help to facilitate critical decision making. Another vital support function came from members of the Services career field who stood up what's called a Single Pallet Expeditionary Kitchen that provided hot meals for exercise players, which everyone seemed to appreciate. That "can-do" attitude was the hallmark of this exercise, said Mills, who explained that it's been more than two years since the wing performed an ORI. "Most of the people who were here for the last ORI have since moved on. With that in mind, the overall the learning curve is high and so are the attitudes. Players were very receptive and once identified, corrections were being made." Mills said the primary goal for the next mobility exercise, scheduled for May, will be to focus on the basic skills of donning Mission Oriented Protective Posture gear, or MOPP gear. All this extra practice doesn't bother Tech. Sgt. Kurt Wells, 375th Comptroller Squadron, who agreed that it's "important to practice because it will help everyone become a cohesive unit in the future." Col. Pete Giusti, 375th Operations Group commander, who served as the exercise deployed commander, agreed and said he was proud of everyone's performance. "The whole purpose of this exercise was to be smarter than we were a few days ago. So when you all raised your hands and said you learned something that was exactly what we were working toward. We came together as a team, and I expect nothing less from the future exercises!"