CHARLESTON AIR FORCE BASE, S.C. –
Team Charleston will welcome the Air Mobility Command Inspector General's office as they arrive to begin their inspection of Charleston AFB in an operational readiness inspection starting Sunday.
The base will be looked at on its effectiveness in performing a wartime, contingency, force sustainment and operational mission.
"During the ORI, the wing will be evaluated in four areas," said David Hunt, 437th Airlift Wing Inspector General readiness and inspection chief. "Those four areas are: initial response, employment, mission support while deployed and the deployed wing's ability to survive and operate in a hostile or chemical environment."
To prepare for the inspection, Team Charleston Airmen have taken part in five mobility exercises including a week-long fly-away operational readiness exercise at the Combat Readiness Training Center in Alpena, Mich., where more than 600 Airmen from the 437th and 315th Airlift Wings participated.
As part of the exercises, more than 2,000 Charleston Airmen and their mobility folders processed through the personnel deployment function's mobility processing line where their deployment documentation was reviewed for accuracy.
"There has been improvement in almost every mobility folder the PDF line has seen since we first started inspecting them in February," said Capt. Arnold Mosley, 437th Force Support Squadron Manpower and Personnel Flight commander. "With the effort and improvements each agency has been making, there is no doubt the inspectors will be impressed with how we at Charleston are doing things."
In addition, to prepare for the ORI, organizations on base generated more than 1,900 short tons of cargo that were palletized and inspected to make sure each pallet was within specifications for loading on to an aircraft.
"I am excited at how good the squadrons have become in getting their vehicles, rolling stock and palletized equipment prepared," said Gary Morris, 437th Logistics Readiness Squadron, logistics management specialist. "I would have to credit the Airmen at the 437th Aerial Port Squadron on their cargo outreach program ... it is definitely working."
The program really helped out those squadrons who were having cargo trouble and it gave them the tools to get things right the first time, he added.
Col. John "Red" Millander, 437 AW commander, said the base is not just going to be evaluated on how fast our Airmen and equipment are processed, but also on how everyone on Charleston AFB performs as a team.
"Team Charleston has a long tradition of working together to achieve excellence on a daily basis," said Colonel Millander. "This ORI is just another chance for us to show the AMC IG team something that we have known for quite a long time now ... that we are the No.1 base in AMC."
Colonel Millander said he has no doubt in his mind that Team Charleston will perform outstandingly during the inspection and that everyone plays a role in achieving an "outstanding" rating from the inspectors.
"Each agency, Airman, family member and Department of Defense civilian who works or lives on Charleston AFB plays a role in how we will do," said Colonel Millander. "Everyone contributes to the success of this inspection because our wartime missions could not be accomplished without the involvement and cooperation from all of Team Charleston."
Col. Tony Butters, 437th Operations Group deputy commander and the 805th Air Expeditionary Wing deployed night commander, said it's been impressive to see the improvement in everyone's performance since February in preparing for the ORI and that the dedication and positive attitudes have just been unparalleled.
"I am a huge New England Patriots fan and I followed them last year on their path to the Super Bowl where they were overwhelming favorites but ended up coming up short," said Colonel Butters. "Like the Pats, the 437 and 315 AWs have prepared long and hard and I feel we are now ready for our Super Bowl ... the ORI."
"But unlike the Patriots, we will finish what we started and come home with the hardware," he added.