YOU - 440th Airlift Wing

Prior to the Inspector General out-brief,the 440th Airlift Wing Commander, Col. MerleD. Hart, expressed his thoughts on how unitAirmen had performed during the ORI.“The success of the unit is going to begraded based on the individual’s ability toperform their mission essential task lists,”said Colonel Hart. “From my seat at theInstallation Control Center it was clear thatthe collective effort of all Airmen is whatexecuted the wartime mission successfully.”Once the official party was seated inthe base theater, the IG team went rightto work presenting their findings. BasedA satisfactory gradetells commanders andcombatant commandsthat you are missionready and you shouldbe congratulated.on a five-tier grading system ranging fromoutstanding to unsatisfactory, the unit wasgraded in four major areas of performance:positioning the force, employing the force,sustaining the force and the ability tosurvive and operate.As the IG presenter went through theslides identifying the grades of the individualshops, a common theme began toarise – satisfactory. When it came time topresent the overall grade it was obvious,the unit had passed the inspection.After the cheers from the audience subsided,Col. Andrew J. Molnar, IG Team Chief,Col. James Johnson, 43d Airlift Wing Commanderand Colonel Hart lined up centerstage to present exceptional performercertificates and present the IG coin to threeoutstanding performers.“General Rubeor, Colonel Hart, ColonelJohnson…your pride and professionalefforts really shined,” said Colonel Molnar.“A satisfactory grade tells commandersand combatant commands that you aremission ready and you should becongratulated.”Colonel Molnar went on to tell astory about a wealthy man who wanted tomarry-off his daughter, so he invited lotsof people to a party to pick a suitor. Atthe party the man explained “whoever willswim across this pool will be worthy ofmy daughter’s hand. The only thing is thepool is filled with alligators. Now who willbe first?” Everyone sat quite with nothingto say and out of the blue - splash, swim,swim, swim and over to the other side wasone suitor. The wealthy man goes over tothe suitor and tells him “you have just wonmy daughter’s hand in marriage and halfmy wealth. Do you have any question”…and the suitor replied, “yeah, who pushedme in?”“That is what it (an ORI) feels like;somebody pushed you into the pool andyou swam out on the other side. You areall much better for it,” said Colonel Molnar.“Team Pope - you showed courage.”To sum up the experience of preparing andparticipating in an ORI and its impact onthe careers of all Airmen involved, ColonelHart provided these words:“You join the military for five reasons:to serve your country, adventure, learnnew skills, get paid, and the last thing isto unite and become part of a unit,” saidColonel Hart. “Typically the unity happensunder the stress of combat, and this ORIwas indeed a very stressful event. For theAirmen and unit in front of me - you rockedand dominated. I cannot be more satisfied,and I am very proud of you. This unit isbetter; it’s stronger, and we are ready to goto war.”BELOWAirmen from the 440th Airlift Wingapply their Self Aid and Buddy Careskills while responding to a scenario atthe simulated deployed location at theCombat Readiness Training Center inSavannah, Ga., Feb. 2, 2011. The 440AW was fulfilling their tasking for anOperational Readiness Inspection.TOP/ photographs by Staff Sgt. Jacqueline PenderU.S. Air Force Airman, Chief Master Sgt. Gerald Melbourneperforms an accountability check during a bug-out dry run ata simulated deployed location, Feb. 1, 2011. The 112th AirExpeditinary Wing Airmen have been training extensively forthis deployment to an undisclosed location. They are employingmethods to ensure safety and security on base and in thesurrounding communities as they carry out the mission toincrease stability to the region./ORI12