Airmen here tested their rapid deployment capabilities during an Operational Readiness Exercise March 10-14.

The week-long event was designed to examine Moody’s capabilities when called upon to deploy on a moment’s notice in the event of a real-world tasking.

“Overall, I thought the ORE was a success,” said Col. Kenneth Todorov, 23rd Wing commander. “This was the first time we flexed our muscle and deployed our combat search and rescue and A-10 assets at the same time. We learned a lot and found several areas to improve, and that was the purpose of the exercise.”

During the exercise, Airmen from a wide range of Air Force specialties, along with HH-60G Pave Hawk, HC-130P King and A-10C Thunderbolt II aircraft simulated a deployment to support a Department of Defense tasking.

“We had hundreds of Airmen process through the deployment lines,” said Capt. Brian Higgins, 23rd Logistics Readiness Squadron installation deployment officer. “The amount of personnel and equipment the base has processed this week set a new milestone for us.”

A number of Airmen selected from various career fields became augmentees and were trained to perform tasks that would expedite the deployment process, including cargo inspection, manpower, aircraft load-team and security forces members.

“The biggest challenge we faced during the exercise was to train the new augmentees,” Captain Higgins said. “Once they became efficient at their jobs, the process became stream-lined and the job was done very well.”

One augmentee said the exercise taught her a lot about the deployment process.

“I was trained to ensure deploying Airmen’s personnel information was correct and to make sure they had a next-of-kin notification in place,” said Senior Airman Kristy Murray, an augmentee from the 23rd Logistics Readiness Squadron who assisted in the deployment line. “It has been a great experience, and I’m surprised at how many deploying Airmen didn’t know what their next of kin notification was. For me, it’s really about getting vital information out to the Airmen.

” The experience was also beneficial to those who were tasked to “deploy,” said Capt. Jim Stokeman, 75th Fighter Squadron A-10 pilot.

“The exercise really showed the wing where we stand as far as mobility readiness is concerned,” he said. “The shortfalls that arose will allow us to make the necessary changes to ensure that next time an ORE or a response to real-world threat arises, we do not have the same problems.”

Although the ORE only lasted one week, it gave Airmen a training opportunity that will be invaluable to them throughout their career, Colonel Todorov said.

“There was a lot of hard work put in this week by the Flying Tigers of the 23rd Wing,” he said. “There are obviously some areas we need to improve on, but the base will have future opportunities to demonstrate the lessons learned.”