Fighting war for readiness

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. Amanda Callahan
  • 319th Air Refueling Wing Public Affairs
3/30/2006 - GRAND FORKS AFB, N.D. --  Alpena Air National Guard Base, Mich., was transformed for a seven-day exercise recently as members of the 446th Air Reserve Wing and the 62nd Airlift Wing at McChord Air Force Base, Wash., and the Warriors of the North joined forces to create the 602nd Air Expeditionary Wing. 

Members of the three wings started to arrive at Alpena March 17, with a simulated “war” beginning March 20. 

Normal operations were regularly interrupted by alarms that sent Airmen running for bunkers and quickly strapping on their gas masks. 

The exercise subjected paricipants to dozens of wartime scenarios, ranging from sniper fire to possible attacks using weapons of mass destruction, and graded them on everything from the proper use of chemical gear to their ability to carry out the mission from an austere location. 

“We are right where we need to be,” said Maj. Colin Sindel, the wing’s chief of inspections. “Two previous exercises prepared us for the integration with McChord, and this one allowed us to actually conduct operations in a combined environment as we [the three wings] worked together to create a robust integrated base.” 

The “war” wasn’t the only challenge facing the men and women of the 602 AEW. Although the wings worked well together, integration required a lot of effort from everyone. 

“The most difficult issue was integrating and merging three wings’ different processes into one well-oiled machine,” said Lt. Col. Jeff Gillen, an exercise evaluation team member. “This week was meant to be the ‘crawl’ phase of the ‘crawl/walk/run’ concept [of the the exercises], and recognizing our short-falls is an important step toward success.” 

“This week has been a building block towards success and we finished on a strong note,” added Capt. Adrian Byers, the wing’s deputy chief of inspections. “We know what to focus on next time to ensure an outstanding for June’s Operational Readiness Inspection.” 

Although the exercise demanded a lot, most participants agreed the three wings have proven that can operate as one team. 

“The exercise was an important success for the Warriors of the North and for our lead unit from McChord AFB,” said Col. Lee DeRemer, the 602 AEW’s wing vice commander. “We integrated our people into one team, broke the code on deploying, employing and redeploying together, and practiced making and implementing decisions in response to simulated attacks on our forces. We learned a lot, and I’m excited to see what we’ll do in our May exercise.”