Edwards 'makes the grade' during ORI

  • Published
  • By Airman 1st Class Julius Delos Reyes
  • 95th Air Base Wing Public Affairs
Edwards received a satisfactory rating for its Operational Readiness Inspection and an excellent for its Targeted Compliance Inspection, which were both held March 1 through 9. 

After 9 days of inspection, the Air Force Materiel Command Inspector General gave Edwards a satisfactory mark for its emergency management exercise and an excellent on force protection and deployed operations, while the base's initial response
was unsatisfactory. 

With the unsatisfactory rating, Edwards will have to prepare for the return of the AFMC IG for the base's initial response retest within three to six months, said Col. George Sciss, the Air Force Flight Test Center Inspector General. 

"You were all enthusiastic," said Maj. Gen. Curtis Bedke, the AFFTC commander, to the Edwards community during the ORI outbrief at the base theater Monday. "The AFMC IG were blown away from how energetic and friendly we were. We were out there showing our stuff instead of hiding from them. Overall, everyone did a great job." 

Initial response is the processing of Edwards Airmen to deployed locations, said Maj. Stephen Harvey, the AFFTC Inspector General chief of center readiness. It consists of processing cargo, assembling the troops, processing them into the line and providing them with any mode of transportation they need to get to their deployed location. 

During the base's previous operational readiness exercises, Edwards usually provided six to seven chalks in a certain time frame, but the AFMC IG asked for nine chalks to be deployed within 12 hours, Major Harvey said. 

The force protection is an all encompassing system, Major Harvey said. The AFFTC Inspector General emphasized during the previous OREs that every Airmen needs to be a "sensor." 

"They called in the things they saw including any attacks," he said. "There were several attempts through telephone. The (95th Security Forces Squadron) did an outstanding job, but it's an overall base awareness issue." 

For the emergency management exercise, the IG tested the base's response and reactions to either natural or man-made disasters. 

"During the ORI, we had several scenarios but the major one was a simulated terrorist attack at the West Gate where the terrorists blew up a truck containing chlorine gas," Major Harvey said. 

During the scenario, the fire department and the 95th SFS were the initial responders. The security forces cordoned off the area to ensure safety and control of the situation, while the fire department put out any fires and collected the casualties. Once the initial response was complete, the disaster control group, which is composed of different organizations on base, came in to transition the base into normal operation. 

The deployed operation is where Airmen perform their job in a deployed environment, Major Harvey said. 

"The IG team's comments were glowing in praise," he said. "They were impressed from the fact our Airmen were able to hit the ground running from the moment of the very first attack. It was evident we prepared very well for Phase II. They threw nothing at us that we hadn't already practiced." 

The scenarios during the Phase II operations at Camp Corum were typical ground, chemical, mortar and conventional attacks, he said. 

The AFMC IG also inspected the Airmen's knowledge on self aid and buddy care, command and control, unexploded ordnance identification and sweeps, camp fortification and maintenance, Colonel Sciss said. The deployed operations also include weapons breakdown and handling as well as using the Airman's Manual. 

In addition to the four areas, Edwards was also inspected for its wartime materiel support. 

"The AFMC IG inspected our ability to bring capabilities to the warfighter in an expedited manner to determine how Edwards is performing with its wartime materiel support," Major Harvey said. Meanwhile, the base received an excellent in the Targeted Compliance Inspection. 

"The idea behind TCI is the AFMC IG is not going to look at everything," General Bedke said. "The things they picked were the ones specifically they have known and seen for the past years as problems across the command. We performed great on those things." 

The TCI included software licensing, safety programs, risk management, combat arms, electronic records management and deputy disbursement officer evaluation, Colonel Sciss said. The base performed excellent on the inspection with all areas in compliance. 

The special interest items included source selection process, management of automated external defibrillators, maintaining control of vehicle fleet, ensuring they are safe and serviceable, and management of Wingman Boldface, he said. The base performed satisfactory and in compliance on these areas. 

"We were prepared as can be," Colonel Sciss said. "We did very well overall, but there are still some things we need to fix before the AFMC IG comes back in three to six months."