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Are you ready?

  • Published
  • By Maj. Edward Peterson
  • 305th Aerial Port Squadron commander
McGUIRE AIR FORCE BASE, N.J. --  The countdown to the Operational Readiness Inspection has begun ... are you ready? 

Next year, the 305th Air Mobility Wing will have an opportunity to answer this question, testing our core military capabilities. Readiness is a question all members of the Armed Forces, active, Reserve, Guard and DoD civilians, need to ask themselves from many perspectives. Readiness goes beyond being able to do our job in adverse or demanding environments; it is the ability to react and respond to unforeseen events; to employ training and resources for mission success. In short, being ready is a state of mind requiring advance planning and training to prepare ourselves for those times when the unexpected occurs. 

For those in uniform, we need to prepare ourselves to work outside of our primary-job specialties and perform expeditionary skills to accomplish the mission. Perhaps there is no better example of this than the incredible Airmen currently working "in lieu of" taskings in Iraq and Afghanistan performing convoy operations, security details or mentoring host nation forces. These "in lieu of" Airmen have received just-in-time training, but circumstances may not always afford an opportunity for us to train just-in-time. This is why it is very important for us as expeditionary Airmen to be familiar with basic military skills. 

Fortunately, many of these skills are detailed for us in the Airman's Manual. For example, how many of us know what a PARR team is or how to lead one? Do you know how to read a range card, build a shelter, or execute challenge procedures at an ECP? An ORI will give us an opportunity to test some of these skills. Now is the time to familiarize ourselves with the expeditionary skills we all need to know ... not just for the ORI, but also for a wide range of contingencies. 

Deployments also offer readiness opportunities not only for those in uniform but DoD civilians as well. The current pace of operations has not only expanded opportunities for DoD civilians to deploy, but have also placed increased demands upon our civilian workforce at home. These demands bring into focus the need for readiness from a different perspective. Have we prepared and resourced our organizations to function when our coworkers deploy for four, six or 12 months? Often, it is our civilian workforce called upon to accomplish the tasks when our uniformed personnel leave. Personnel should ask themselves, "Am I ready to cover tasks normally accomplished by others? Have I trained and educated myself to take a leadership role in my organization?" Have you asked the right questions to keep your unit's mission running? 

The common theme behind readiness is an apparent endless amount of questions and answers to an infinite number of situations. The key to readiness is not to answer every question, but build a foundation of skills based upon education and training to employ available resources for mission accomplishment. In order to be ready we need to take time now to prepare ourselves and our units for future challenges. Doing so will enable success not only for an ORI but real-world contingencies as well.