SHAW AIR FORCE BASE, S.C. -- The 20th Fighter Wing held operational readiness exercise Weasel Victory 16-08 at Shaw Air Force Base, S.C., March 21-23.
OREs, held several times annually, serve to help Airmen learn the functions of operating in a deployed environment while the 20th Fighter Wing demonstrates its ability to employ forces under simulated combat conditions, sustain support during contingency operations, and meet Air Force standards for mission continuity in conventional and chemical environments.
“Exercises are an opportunity to increase readiness, assess and train our Airmen under a wide spectrum of stressful situations,” said James Allen, 20th Fighter Wing Inspector General director of inspections. "The Inspector General's office conducts a variety of exercise events such as deployment (Phase I), employment (Phase II), and major accident response exercises each year to meet Air Force instructions requirements and commander intent.
“The benefit to participants is to practice skills that they may not otherwise get to demonstrate in their normal day-to-day operations. By conducting exercises, we're able to challenge our Airmen with scenarios that provide opportunity to demonstrate capability, receive feedback, gain knowledge and build confidence before actually encountering similar situations in a real world event or mission."
Simulated emergencies during the exercise can range from fires and destroyed buildings to ambushes and gunshot victims. Each of these scenarios is meant to test Airmen on their skills, knowledge, and responses while in a stressful environment.
“You may be put into a scenario where you have to operate when you may normally shut down,” said Tech. Sgt. Aimee Roth, 20th Fighter Wing chaplain assistant.
Roth, who participated in this exercise as a player, has performed in the capacity of a wing inspection team member in previous exercises – running scenarios, testing Airmen, and giving them ‘injects,’ or sudden scenarios, that may range from an Airman disappearing to sustaining an injury.
“Of course as a WIT you’re looking for Airmen to perform fast, correct, and give the right answer,” said Roth. “But ideally, you want to look for what more you can get from training than just the black and white. The hardest part about being a WIT is coming up with relevant training that is executable with limited people and resources. Between alarm changes, available actors, and other limiting factors, it can be rough. Without relevant tests and learning opportunities to solidify the lessons learned, your people are bored and the potential is wasted. Exercises are meant to push their limits and skills.”
Readiness exercises are a vital tool used by the DoD to ensure service members are combat ready and capable when deployed to combatant commanders.