Wing wraps up exercise block

  • Published
  • By Capt. Tony Wickman
  • Public Affairs
VANCE AIR FORCE BASE, Okla. --  The 71st Flying Training Wing completed its recent base exercise block, Scarlet Hawk 07-04, and the take away was be prepared for anything and everything.

From Oct. 29 to Nov. 9, the wing was put through its paces on how to respond to a variety of incidents and situations, including inclement weather procedures, personnel accountability and an off base mass accident response exercise.

According to Maj. Chris Davis, 71st FTW exercise evaluation team chief, the exercise scenarios were designed to challenge the wing to train as it would fight, or in these situations respond to a myriad of crisis.

"We made the scenarios as realistic as possible to meet the objectives of the exercise and to provide a good look at base capabilities," the major said. "The purpose was to take away good lessons learned that can be applied in the future."

One of the biggest accomplishements for the exercise was the off-base MARE held at the Garfield County fairgrounds Nov. 5.

"The biggest success during this block was working with Garfield County and the City of Enid first responders because it allowed civilian emergency services and Vance to gain knowledge and experience in responding to crisis incidents off the military base," Major Davis said. "I think in the future, we will be better able to work and communicate with each other based on this exercise. We've gained knowledge of each others capabilities and will be better able to support each other in any crisis on Vance or in the community."

For this exercise, some Team Vance members were identified for outstanding performance. They included: Staff Sgt. David Harris and Senior Airman Shawn Ausley, 71st Security Forces Squadron; Tech. Sgt. Craig Brodber, 71st Mission Support Squadron; and, 2nd Lt. Agneta Murnan and Bob Farrell, 71st FTW Public Affairs.

Not all things went according to script and provided seams in operations the wing will work to improve upon in future exercise blocks as it moves toward the Air Education and Training Command operational readiness inspection scheduled for 2009.

According to Col. Richard Klumpp Jr., 71 FTW commander, the wing has work to do, but he is confident the base is up to the challenge.

"We are at the crawl stage of crawl-walk-run stage in some things, like the new emergency operation center procedures, but many of the other things we identified as needing improvement in this exercise are fundamentals that should not be a problem, like UCC operations or our READY augmentee program," the colonel said. "We train on a regular basis and should not take steps back in accomplishing tasks associated with our respective unit missions, but I am certain our people will rise to the challenge and be prepared for any inspection or real-world incident."

The colonel stated that the wing was not exercising just for the upcoming inspection.

"I don't want to train just for the ORI. These are things we should and will be prepared to do every day," he said.

The colonel said the wing will move from exercising once a quarter to once every other month over the next 18 months.

"With the preparation we are putting in we will be at the sprint stage when the inspection time does come," Colonel Klumpp said.

According to Major Davis, the wing should be prepared for a couple of truisms in the next exercise.

"Proper accountability of personnel means face-to-face, telephone, or radio contact with each individual. That will continue to be a factor in each and every exercise," he said. "Also, if it is an exercise period people should expect delays and hassles. Realism is required to enhance readiness."