Setting the stage, Team Dover learns to survive, operate

  • Published
  • By Master Sgt. Melissa Phillips
  • 436th AW Public Affairs
DOVER AIR FORCE BASE, Del. --  In today's military environment, the enemy is often odorless, faceless and fast. It only takes minutes to launch missiles, mortars and rockets outfitted with some pretty nasty chemicals.

"We train to fight under all sorts of conditions," said Col. Eric Wydra, 436th Airlift Wing vice commander and the deployed Installation Control Center commander for the operational readiness inspection. "We stay prepared to fight anything a potential adversary decides to lob at us."

The colonel deployed with more than 150 Airmen from the 436th and 512th Airlift Wings to the Alpena Combat Readiness Training Center in Alpena, Mich. March 14 - 18.

The team surveyed the site to set the groundwork and infrastructure for the upcoming inspection.

Practice makes perfect 

"Inspections and training opportunities like this prepare us for the full spectrum of challenges we face as modern warfighters," said Colonel Wydra. "We must practice these skills to keep them current to ensure we're able to respond when we're called upon to do so."

The Cadre 

More than 15 Reserve and Air National Guard Airmen from throughout the U.S. volunteered to deploy to the Alpena Combat Readiness Training Center to assist Team Dover in re-familiarizing themselves with ability to survive and operate, self-aid and buddy care, post-attack reconnaissance, facility maintenance, and command and control procedures.

"Our readiness training program provides an opportunity to set up activities with varying complexity," said Lt. Col. Jonathan McDaniel, Readiness Safeguard Cadre director of readiness, from the Air National Guard Combat Readiness Training Center on Volk Field Air National Guard Base, Wis.

The colonel said it's up to each unit to pick and chose from possible scenarios in an à la carte fashion to challenge trainees.

"Our method is to approach the unit like a coach," the colonel said. "We ask questions that lead them to self-discovery, then we step in with suggested techniques and recommendations."

The impartial outlook was a benefit to many exercise participants.

"It was good to get the experience from an outside source," said Master Sgt. Jennifer Owen, 436th Logistics Readiness Squadron. "They gave us a good assessment."

Sharing the knowledge 

Many of the participants at the exercise, which was referred to as a fly-away because the trainees actually forward deployed and performed a variety of duties. Those who went on the trip are tasked to take the acquired knowledge and brief more than 700 Airmen who will deploy for the ORI.

"During (previous) exercises, I spent my whole time in the emergency operations center," said Capt. Aldreon Johnson, 436th Aerial Port Squadron, who manned the LRS unit control center during the exercise.

The experience allowed him to see a different aspect of crisis management.

As an exercise UCC chief and highest-ranking individual in the facility, he directed a team of Airmen to secure the building, provide battlefield medical care, perform PAR sweeps, and up-channel information to the EOC on personnel and operational status.

"I enjoyed doing this," the captain said. "It's something different, and it gives us an idea of what to look forward to when we come back (to Michigan for the ORI)."

Fostering a cooperative relationship among all Airmen, who have a vast multitude of functional specialties, is a critical component to create a team mentality and execute any mission.

"By deploying to Alpena, it takes us out of the context of our everyday rhythm to isolate our focus on the wartime training," said Colonel Wydra. "It allows our team to transplant the wing's key processes and servicemembers to forge relationships in an austere location."

Airmen from Tinker AFB in Oklahoma also assisted Team Dover during the fly-away.

For real-world deployments, servicemembers stationed all over the world deploy to locations and mix together to support the mission. The exercise tests many of the same procedures and processes Airmen use to deploy into a hostile war environment.

Setting the tone 

The recent exercise was considered a training opportunity. However, the upcoming ORI is an inspection to test the wing's ability to operate in an austere environment - to carry out the mission against surmounting odds.

In July, inspectors from Air Mobility Command will put the base through its paces. Colonel Wydra said one element more than any other sets the tone for cadre or an inspector.

"I would like to thank everyone for the great attitude they showed the cadre, during this exercise," said Colonel Wydra. "For either an exercise or an inspection, the one commonality that inspectors love to see is Airmen who display an enthusiastic and aggressive warfighting attitude! So keep up the great work!"