From it to WIT

by Airman 1st Class Zachary Kee
35th Fighter Wing Public Affairs

10/15/2013 - MISAWA AIR BASE, Japan -- He started off under the microscope during an Operational Readiness Exercise, working on the day's tasks and receiving exercise injects while members of the group formerly known as the Exercise Evaluation Team watched his every move.

As a crew chief who spent his time inspecting aircraft and performing maintenance during exercises, Tech. Sgt. Stephen Morin, 35th Maintenance Group, didn't know it would be his last ORE under the spotlight.

Now, as a member of the Misawa Wing Inspection Team, Morin gets to see what it's like on the other side of the house and what it's like to be the one who looks into the microscope.
To be a part of WIT, members must show good work-ethic and be able to ensure Airmen are performing exercise scenarios properly and with a sense of urgency.

"Transitioning to this side I understand a lot more," said Morin. "Instead of being grumpy and hunkered down in a simulated bunker thinking 'why are they always hitting us,' I can see it might not be us that they were testing it could be another section of the base we happened to fall under.

I really enjoy seeing a broader spectrum of operations, as opposed to just my maintenance career field," he added. "Now, I get to see how the base reacts and not just my section. I enjoy taking a step back and seeing how people actually go through the entire process."

Morin's experience includes being deployed to various locations, and he's used that along with prior exercise experience to strengthen his role as a WIT member. He said it has increased his ability to throw better scenarios at people during the exercise.

"Seeing combat first-hand as far as indirect fire, unexploded ordnance and things like that, you understand how important it is to play correctly and how to respond to things with a sense of urgency," said Morin.

Staff Sgt. Kevin Shoultz, 35th Maintenance Squadron precision measurement equipment laboratory technician, says having Morin's experience has played a huge role in his team learning the right way to do post attack reconnaissance sweeps and other exercise injects.

"He has the experience of doing this already," said Shoultz. "He used to be in our shoes so his experience can help us exponentially when we do this in the future."
Morin said he was trained to give Airmen the best scenarios possible and push them to be ready for a deployment.

"I take great satisfaction in being able to help the team and help Airmen learn and correct their mistakes," said Morin. "It's about knowing we will get it right when we go downrange. If we nail it here in practice, we are going to nail it downrange and, ultimately, save lives."