Dyess readiness tested, proven

by Airman 1st Class Damon Kasberg
7th Bomb Wing Public Affairs

4/15/2013 - DYESS AIR FORCE BASE, Texas -- Through rain, hail, heat and high winds, Airmen from throughout the 7th Bomb Wing tirelessly engaged in an Operational Readiness Exercise at Dyess Air Force Base, Texas, April 8-11.

An ORE is one of many realistic exercises designed to test a base's ability to deploy at a moment's notice.

"It's a wing-wide inspection that involves almost every unit on base," said Master Sgt. Corey Riley, 7th Bomb Wing Plans and Programs. "This is a way to see if the wing is ready for contingency operations."

The first two days of the exercise were conducted as a Phase I exercise and the last two as a Phase II exercise.

"Phase one is all about getting the personnel and cargo to the deployed location," Riley said. "In Phase two, the scenario is that we've been at the deployed location for 'X' amount of days or months. The main difference is during phase one we see if we can get to base 'X' and during phase two we test our ability to survive and operate in a contested environment."

Once the exercise kicked into Phase II, Airmen traveled to Ray Rangel Air Base, Dyess' mock deployment location, where Airmen were tested on their ability to function in a deployed environment.

"For us, the purpose of this training was to act as a deployed medical facility," said Maj. Andrew Allen, 7th Aerospace Medicine Squadron. "We're practicing for a deployment where we have to go to an austere location and set up a few small tents to take care of an expeditionary force. When the base is attacked, we perform our alarm black or alarm red procedures, then we prepare for our casualties to come in. Once they've come in, we train on how to treat battle casualties."

While at Ray Rangel, Airmen faced many challenges in the form of injects, which are scenarios that can vary from unexploded ordinances to opposition forces attacking the base.

"There've been a variety of injects," said Senior Airman Tory Lyde, 7th Medical Operations Squadron. "We saw shrapnel in a sucking chest wound, allergic reaction to food, shrapnel to the lower legs, heat exhaustion, labor and delivery. We also had a mass casualty exercise, which was designed to overwhelm our facility and teach us how to prioritize and treat the most critical wounds first."

This kind of training gives new Airmen the opportunity to learn from seasoned servicemembers. It also sharpens skills that are implemented in a deployed environment and helps train Airmen to support and accomplish the Dyess mission which is to "provide dominant air power and combat support to combatant and joint force commanders... anytime, and anywhere!"

"I've learned quite a bit from my NCOs," said Airman 1st Class Zachary Shives, 7th Security Forces Squadron. "Even though I've had training, those guys have been in real-world situations. A lot of the things we're doing here now, they're doing overseas. It's good to see it firsthand, because we'll be able to take it overseas with us."

Exercises such as these not only prepare Airmen for deployments, but also prepares them for the Operational Readiness Inspection next year.

"A successful inspection and culture of compliance was one of my top priorities when I took command," said Col. Glen VanHerck, 7th Bomb Wing commander. "This exercise was a successful step forward in preparation for next year's ORI as well as providing our Airmen valuable training and experience for any contingency operation."