914th stands up combat readiness office Published Oct. 22, 2012 By Staff Sgt. Andrew Caya 914th Airlift Wing Public Affairs NIAGARA FALLS AIR RESERVE STATION, N.Y. -- Since the manpower restructuring of the Numbered Air Force within the command, the Air Force Reserve has created a new office at the wing level that executes a unique mission. The 914th Airlift Wing Combat Readiness Office is a section designed to plan, prepare, execute and assess the wing's operational readiness in all functional areas of the wing. "We have two roles that the office manages--the military role, which is war fighting capabilities and the home-station requirements," said 914th Combat Readiness Office NCOIC, Master Sgt. Aaron McLane. To hone those roles in preparation for whatever the Air Force needs from a unit, the CRO is set to immerse itself in the wing at all levels. "Working in this office exposes you to every operational and support function on the base and shows you the importance of every Airman and their contribution to the wing's mission," said Lt. Col. Richard Alexandersen, 22nd Air Force operational readiness training chief. "Exercise and Evaluation Teams (EET) will build and execute scenarios that test each operational and support function's war time capability. They will assess the unit's readiness and instruct their respective function when necessary. The mission of a C-130 unit is it to get bullets and beans to the war fighter on the front line. Every support function is critical to the wings success and therefore must be exercised." To ensure each unit maintains its war fighting skills, Air Force Instruction requires units to conduct various exercises every quarter and an operational readiness exercise (ORE) every year. "AFRC has also adopted the Pay-it-Forward (PIF) concept. Unit EET will be afforded opportunities to share the knowledge they have gained from their previous Operational Readiness Inspection (ORI) with units that are preparing for their inspection. 22AF will be recruiting qualified EET from our wings to support NAF run OREs. PIF participation is paid for by the NAF," said Alexandersen. At Niagara, the job of 914th Combat Readiness Officer, Lt. Col. Mark Ables, an air reserve technician, and four traditional reservists assigned to the CRO is to ensure those requirements are met and the wing can execute missions at home or abroad. Because a diverse knowledge of the Air Force is needed in the office, the CRO is looking for Airmen who are subject matter experts from different career fields. CRO Airmen will assist other units with what is required to execute the mission. The CRO is actively looking for Airmen with the following AFSCs: 3S071 and 4N071, said Ables. Executing missions does not just include certain sections of a unit. "... not just flyers and maintainers; you can't do it without all the support functions. In this office you are learning everything there is to know about how the base is run, from the flying side to the support side," said Alexandersen. According to Ables, the duties of the office can break down into different responsibilities such as managing and coordinating all major exercises, assisting the wing for inspection preparation, and supervising the EET. Another responsibility the CRO has is advising the wing commander on the health and readiness capabilities of each unit on base including offices like; Financial Management, Operations, Aircrew Flight Equipment, Airfield Management, Supply and Maintenance just to name a few. The section also assists in the self-assessment of unit programs using the Management Internal Control Toolset. Working closely with the performance planner, the CRO will be responsible to ensure that self-assessment efforts are documented properly and followed up through after-action reports and remedial action plans as necessary, said Ables. For those Airmen interested in joining the office, their function would be beyond ensuring Airmen are ready for war and passing unit inspections. The combat readiness office responsibilities may cover complex issues in the unit however, their objective is simple. "We help the commanders to ensure their programs function in the way they are supposed to function, in accordance with their AW/OI's, operational directives and Air Force Instruction," said Ables.