Wing follows roadmap to readiness

  • Published
  • By Capt. Michael Meridith
  • 319th Air Refueling Wing Public Affairs
3/17/2006 - GRAND FORKS AFB, N.D. --  An essential element to the wing’s preparations for this summer’s Operational Readiness Inspection is the exercise of its capability to carry out missions in support of U.S. Strategic Command. 

During certain contingencies, Grand Forks’ tankers become part of USSTRATCOM’s aerial refueling force, led by the 18th Air Force Headquarters at Scott Air Force Base, Ill.
As such, they are a vital part of the USSTRATCOM’s mission of providing global deterrence capabilities to combat enemy weapons of mass destruction - both current and future threats. 

“Today, there are several potentially hostile countries with suspected nuclear weapons programs that have emerging or expanding delivery capabilities that could gravely threaten us as a nation. We defend the United States not against the politics of the day but against our adversaries’ current and forecasted capabilities,” said Maj. Joe Williams, who oversees the wing’s support of USSTRATCOM. 

According to wing exercise planners, the roadmap to expeditionary readiness for Grand Forks Airmen comes through constant exercise. In particular, joint exercises at Alpena, Mich., next week and in May with the 62nd and 446th Airlift Wings out of McChord Air Force Base, Wash., will test immediate response and ability to survive and operate skills. These exercises culminate with the June ORI. Similarly, several exercises have tested strategic tanker mission skills, with the next one scheduled for April. 

“Our renewed focus [on the USSTRATCOM mission] has helped hone our skills and provided opportunities to make improvements,” said Lt. Col. Kelly Goggin, the wing inspector general. “The first exercise provided a baseline, the second allowed us to implement suggestions and improve. Future exercises will cement what we’ve learned and get us ahead.” 

The end of the Cold War hasn’t meant the end of USSTRATCOM’s mission, or the support of that mission provided by Grand Forks Air Force Base’s tankers. In fact, according to wing planners, if the Global War On Terror has demonstrated anything, it is the value of always being prepared, and according to them - that comes through training.
“In the context of the Cold War, this mission may seem less relevant, but the reality is that we are witnessing a nuclear Renaissance on the other side of the planet,” said Maj. Williams. “The new political pledge pin is having a nuclear weapons program and everyone wants to pledge. I think we’re also laying deep foundations that will meet the commander’s intent to maintain a sharply-honed war machine not only for the ORI, but for years to come.”