36th Wing IG beefs up preparation for CUI

by Airman 1st Class Marianique Santos
36th Wing Public Affairs

11/13/2012 - ANDERSEN AIR FORCE BASE, Guam -- The 36th Wing Inspector General's office conducted pre-exercise briefings at the base theater here, Nov. 4.

The goal for the briefings was to get Andersen Airmen focused and ready for the coming operational readiness exercises, leading up to the combined unit inspection in May 2013.

"We gear towards seeing the areas we can improve on, not just for exercises but for real-world operations," said Capt. Damian Pardue, 36th Wing IG inspections officer in charge.

During the briefing, Maj. Jason Dillon, 36th Wing IG, shared some counsel on what Airmen need to learn and keep in mind during the exercise.

"Get educated about the phases, be ready and always act with a sense of urgency," he said. "If you don't know, ask an exercise evaluation team or a white cell member. Ask questions, be careful and don't wait until it's too late."

Aside from emergency postures, Major Dillon also said that it is imperative that the Airmen are aware of the instructions, operational plans and their unit's designed operational capability statements.

"We tried to have schedules that cater to everyone, including night shift," said Captain Pardue. "We've also had a lot of positive feedback. This is just the start of making things better as we go."

The purpose of the briefing was to ensure that personnel at all levels know what to anticipate and how to respond to announcements and warnings during the exercise. The briefing provided Airmen important information for exercises to include exercise focus, proper donning of personal protective equipment, alarm conditions and easier ways to understand the base sector map.

"There's a lot of information pushed out in these briefings," said Captain Pardue. "We touch on the concepts that would help the Airmen accomplish their tasks seamlessly. We also had emergency management come in and brief us on alarm conditions, shelter in place and more."

In the coming exercises, the IG team aims to create a more robust pre-exercise training. Along with continuing the refresher briefings, IG plans to add hands-on training on particular tasks weeks prior to the exercises.

"We want to include hands-on training in certain areas, such as post-attack reconnaissance sweeps, so that the Airmen can actually have the feel of how to go about procedures and how to conduct such tasks correctly," said Captain Pardue.

Though much emphasis has been placed on exercises, especially with the upcoming CUI, all the preparation and posturing is intended to prepare Airmen to respond to real-world scenarios.

"I've heard people say that the goal is to be ready for the exercise and the inspection, and that is true, but the ultimate goal is to be ready for the mission," said Captain Pardue. "We have to be ready to fight the fight and carry out our contingency tasks when called upon."