Our final ORE - Words to the Airmen

  • Published
  • By Brig. Gen. Trulan Eyre
  • 140th Wing
BUCKLEY AFB, Colo. --  Men and Women of the 140th,

This weekend marks the final ORE for those of you in the COANG preparing for our ACC IG ORI next month. It's hard to believe how fast the months have gone by as we have completed what seems like a never ending set of OREs preparing for what will be a very tough, thorough and intense inspection. You have it on my word, and on the many who have been through these inspections before, the IG will not leave any stone unturned. And they may even get a little devious.....for instance hacking into our BARTS/Chat systems and spoofing, or looking for CAC Cards left momentarily unattended. Trust me, they will do all they can to ensure we have prepared for dern near every contingency imaginable.

Which is why I send you this note on the eve of our ORE. Ladies and gentlemen, from my position, I am very confident in you and your preparation. In fact, were the IG to show up unannounced this weekend, we would pass. Your spirit, tenacity, teamwork and motivation are testaments to the superb airmen that you are. And yet, we can still get better which is what I ask you to do this weekend. Make the last effort to ensure all your questions are answered, because rest assured, the IG has the answer if you don't. And as always, do your best. Their whole inspection program is about stressing the system to as close to the breaking point as they can. But folks, they can't break us. Because we will rely on the AFI's, OI's, Tech Orders, our Checklists and each other to do the job the right way, in as urgent a manner as safety and procedure will allow. And in the end, that is what the IG wants to see. They know the scenario is tough, but never the less doable. Which leads me to something I have said to you before. Now is not the time to do something DUMB, DANGEROUS or DIFFERENT. You haven't trained that way, so don't execute, especially in an inspection, that way.

I close with some words excerpted from Chief Platt who has been part of the EET evaluating us over our past ORE's. "Be professional, answer their questions (when they have one), and keep going. Everything they are looking for is in an AFI, TO, or is a process or procedure they are looking for during an event. So follow those AFIs, TOs and processes and procedures to the letter, and you will be way ahead of the IG!...report what you see and react to the attack. Pass information up and pass information down, but most of all be and remain calm. Do the best you can, and always be proactive. The IG will see that and they reward effort. So don't quit and don't get frustrated--just keep going."

Great words to train by this weekend as we finish our preparations. I would be remiss if I also didn't take the time to thank LtCol Hanlon and his XP/EET team for their long hard work making these ORE's as productive as they have.

As always, I remain deeply honored to serve with each of you. And like you, I will be learning again this ORE and attempting to put the final shine on my preparations as well. The 140th is a superb Wing, made up of superb individuals, dedicated to the greater good. For that we all ought to be extremely proud.

Practice hard this weekend. It will pay off in the long run and we will all be better off for our efforts.

Respectfully,

Tru Eyre