Team Edwards performs last full-blown exercise before UCI Published Dec. 10, 2008 By Senior Airman Julius Delos Reyes 95th Air Base Wing Public Affairs EDWARDS AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. -- With five weeks left before the base's Unit Compliance Inspection in January, Team Edwards performed its last full-blown Operational Readiness Exercise and Emergency Management Exercise Dec. 2 to 5. The weeklong exercise tested the base's disaster response, Airmen mobility process and deployment operations. "With this ORE, we ensured that we continue to be ready to deploy Airmen for contingency operations, and that they have basic skills to be successful in their deployed mission," said Col. Jerry Gandy, 95th Air Base Wing commander. "This was also our dress rehearsal for the upcoming UCI in January. We identified some gaps in performance in the exercises leading up to this one. As a result of these findings, we spent extra time training on skills necessary to operate successfully in combat and on ensuring we could deploy all personnel from down range with zero negative mission impacts. (Col. William Thornton, 412th Test Wing commander) and I are pleased with the exercise execution, and more importantly, we remain confident in our ability to execute contingency deployments." As an initial assessment, the whole exercise "looked good," said Dave Bookrum, installation exercise manager. "The troops were motivated; the Airmen were eager to have things accomplished; and they were very organized" Mr. Bookrum said. The Phase I exercise evaluated Edwards' ability to process 99 deploying Airmen through personnel deployment function line. It also evaluated the base's readiness program, including personnel records, briefings and programs available to deploying Airmen. "We evaluated the whole system, including processes of deployment managers and each unit for personnel and cargo deployment," said Mr. Bookrum. For the Phase II exercise, Edwards Airmen received training and were tested on their ability to survive and operate in an austere condition. These included Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear training, Self-Aid Buddy Care, M-9 and M-16 weapons familiarization, post-attack recognizance and general knowledge of Air Force Manual 10-100. The Airmen were evaluated on how well they were familiar with their task and how well they executed it. Meanwhile, the Emergency Management Exercise tested how well the base responded to, communicated and managed an incident. The scenario for the exercise was an emergency response to an F-16 Fighting Falcon crash short of the flightline. Initial responders for the incident included the Edwards fire department, 95th Medical Group and 95th Security Forces Squadron. Other organizations included the Explosive Ordnance Disposal Unit and the search and recovery team. The Installation Control Center, Emergency Operations Center and Unit Control Center were also stood up for the incident. Orchestrating an exercise is a challenge because of the large manpower, resources and time it entails, Mr. Bookrum said. "We've been doing so many exercises," he said. "Typically, you want a couple of months to plan an exercise. We just wrapped up an earthquake exercise. But the team has been excellent in putting these exercises together." These exercises are designed to help Edwards Airmen when they deploy, as well as, during Unit Compliance Inspection. As part of the UCI, Air Force Materiel Command Inspector General team will evaluate areas critical or important to the health and performance of the base. Part of this includes the base's readiness program, which encompasses personnel deployment and the Airmen's ability to survive and operate in a deployed environment. "The ORE ensures we are ready to respond to any tasking directed in support of our national objectives," Colonel Thornton said. "It is important that we are prepared to deploy large numbers of qualified personnel within a short timeframe. "This ORE also tested our ability to respond to disasters and fully exercised our response from command and control to execution. We learned several lessons that will improve our processes and increase our capabilities. This was also excellent preparation for our upcoming UCI. The Unit Compliance Inspection is our top and priority, and Colonel Gandy and I look forward to showing off Team Edwards to our AFMC Inspector General team."