Moody introduces new employment phase to WRI

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman Sandra Marrero
  • 23d Wing Public Affairs
Avon Park Air Force Range, Fla. --  For the first time, Team Moody introduced an employment phase to a Wing Readiness Inspection during an exercise held at Moody Air Force Base, Ga., and Avon Park Air Force Range, Fla. Oct. 6 through 10.

The 23d Wing worked to prove their mission readiness and discover ways to build upon it while executing a combat search and rescue mission in an austere environment.

"Despite any hiccup we may encounter, despite any flaw we find in ourselves right now, we are the best in the world," said U.S. Air Force Col. Derek Oaks, 23d Fighter Group commander. "The 23d Wing is the best organization at combat search and rescue because we don't accept being good - we only accept being the best."

In the interest of maintaining that dominance during real-world combat operations, the new WRI is in the hands of commanders, who are familiar with the wing's mission and day-to-day operations.

"The commander determines if his people are ready," said Oaks. "He's not preparing for an inspection. He's preparing his people for war; he's preparing his people for whatever event the wing is going to have to face and the different mission sets we are responsible for."

This is a departure from the previous Operational Readiness Inspection system, which had external evaluators create scenarios that didn't necessarily mirror real-life situations Airmen would face. 

In order to have a more authentic experience, this WRI deployed Airmen to an austere environment to support and execute a CSAR mission.

"Avon Park provides realism that can't be experienced by doing it just at Moody," said Capt. Ryan Cummings, 23d Wing WRI exercise planner. Now you go to an area you weren't at before and learn how to operate with what you're given."

While at Avon Park, members of the 23d Wing set up living quarters, unloaded cargo and performed aircraft maintenance in support of the CSAR contingency exercise. According to the scenario, Airmen had to rescue a downed aircrew member while neutralizing an opposing force.

"There are a lot of people whose lives depend on us being the best in the world and finding [survivors] the No. 1 priority in the wing, said Oaks.

Once the mission was successfully completed, leadership from the participating units held a debrief.  They broke down the mission minute by minute, discussing the role of each unit, areas in which they excelled and suggested ways to enhance their mission readiness for future inspections and real-world operations.

Oaks said the Airmen collaborated successfully during the employment phase of the exercise and the wing will soon begin planning its next WRI.