Preparation for ORE pays off all around

  • Published
  • By Bruce Harayda
  • 75th Air Base Wing Plans and Program Office
HILL AFB, Utah --  Once again Team Hill prepares for another Operational Readiness Exercise or ORE as you will hear most folks call it. The ORE is an important step to ensure mission readiness and Hill's best tool to evaluate true mission capabilities. A lot of planning and coordination goes into OREs, and we need to do all we can to maximize what we get out of the exercise.

A few tips:
  • Everyone should be familiar with AFI 90-201, Chapter 4. It's the guide used by the AFMC inspector general, or IG, to evaluate Team Hill during an Operational Readiness Inspection, or ORI.
  • Inspect your mobility bag and your war gear, but don't do it yourself. If you've been missing something during your own inspections, you will continue to do so. Use a wingman to check your bag and gear. While you're preparing yourself for mobility processing, go through your mobility folder and make sure all of the required documents are complete and current. Mobility folder items commonly found in error are shots not up to date, Serviceman Group Life Insurance paperwork incorrect and locator cards not current.
  • Do you know your wartime role? If you don't, you're already behind the power curve. Your ability to perform your wartime tasks is as valuable as your ability to survive in war. Get with your unit readiness noncommissioned officer or your supervisor and make sure your wartime role (job specialty) is clearly defined.
  • The Airman's Manual (AFPAM 10-100). What a great tool it is. They didn't have one when I was active duty, but I wish they had. Somebody actually thought we were going to remember all of that stuff off the top of our heads. You don't have to memorize the manual, but you should be familiar enough with it to quickly find what you need in a time of crisis. Use of the Airman's Manual is something the local exercise evaluation team and the headquarters IG will be checking.
  • Read the Operations Order, or OPORD as it is most commonly called. The OPORD is full of important information specific to a particular ORE. It contains information about child care hours, bus schedules, dining hours and more importantly exercise rules of engagement, or ROEs. Reading the OPORD will give you an edge during the ORE and will probably keep you from getting written up.
  • When you encounter a member of the Exercise Evaluation Team or IG, don't panic. They are not out to get you. They want to ensure that you are a mission-ready Airman prepared to deploy, complete the mission and return home safely. If you are given an exercise scenario by an evaluator, read the entire inject very carefully. Don't be afraid to ask for clarification if the inject card isn't clear to you. And most importantly, don't try to guess what the evaluator wants to see you do. Just do what you would do if the situation were real and you'll always come out OK. Make sure others in the immediate area, especially your immediate chain of command, are aware of the inject. Play out your actions to conclusion of the scenario unless the EET stops you. If you need to simulate an action (such as pulling a fire alarm) just tell the EET "I would pull the fire alarm."
IG teams from Air Combat Command and Air Force Materiel Command will be inspecting Team Hill this November. This inspection will be a validation of the hard work we do every day to prepare for any contingency, anytime, anywhere. The OREs will prepare us for that inspection and any real-world contingency we may encounter.