ORI prep needs sense of urgency Published Dec. 27, 2007 By Maj. Tim Johnson Public Affairs DOBBINS AIR RESERVE BASE, Ga. -- When I played high school football I remember an incident at a practice when my team was just kind of going through the motions. I think most players were thinking that there was no reason to "overdo it" and that we should save our best for the actual game. Well I can tell you that this only happened one time! As a result, my coach took us through the most grueling ordeal that afternoon that I can remember. He wanted to emphasize the point that you practice how you play. If you are sloppy and give half effort in practice, then that's what ends up happening in the game. As we think about our ORI coming up next year I want to challenge you to consider this lesson and take care to not just "go through the motions," but to have a sense of urgency and realism in how we prepare. During our last ORE I heard of several incidents where people were challenged by the Exercise Evaluation Team (EET) and really did not respond as if the exercise was real-world. During one incident there was a scenario of an explosion in one building and traces of some type of chemical where found. As the EET observed the scene, they saw people hanging out "having a smoke" right next to the impact area. Also, many people in the building decided that since it was only an exercise they did not have to evacuate. It seemed that many felt that the scenario "was for someone else". While it is true that some scenarios are run to test different aspects of our readiness, it is intended that we all participate to the greatest extent possible. We should all "pretend" that what is going on is real and react the way that we would react if it was actually happening. If a building is simulated to have been blown up, then either help get casualties to safety or at the very least get out of the building! If chemicals are suspected to be present then find the nearest decontamination area before you die! If you are asked to "deploy" then go through the mobility line like you are really going off to war. If the ORE and the ORI processes are to have any benefit at all, it is to help us practice, learn and continuously improve how we react to our real world deployment responsibilities. There are many of us in this wing that have actually been through some real world deployments where we executed our mobility plans. In my case, I can tell you that when my wing actually did stage and deploy to a forward location, we were ready and that we executed just as we had practiced. It was really awesome to see things go off so smoothly! So, as we go through these next few months and as we continue to improve our readiness even beyond the ORI, I would like to challenge you to have a sense of urgency and help make our exercise "real" for yourself and those around you.
