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Gen. Mike Minihan, Commander of Air Mobility Command, visits the Niagara Falls Air Reserve Station June 8, 2024.

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914 AW, 107 AW Airmen prepare for inspections

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman Andrew Caya
  • 914 Airlift Wing Public Affairs
NIAGARA FALLS, N.Y. --  Members of the 914th Airlift Wing and the Air National Guard' s 107th Airlift Wing took part in an ongoing exercise during the 914th Airlift Wing' s November Unit Training Assembly. This joint exercise will prepare them for the upcoming Operational Readiness Inspection in 2012.

As part of this exercise, senior-ranking Reservists and Guardsmen ran through different command and control scenarios that may be presented during an ORI. And resolved them by putting their heads together and helped each other overcome each obstacle-like scenario in their own unique way.

"Think of it as an open-book test in preparation of the ORI," said Maj. Andrea Pitruzzella, 914th Airlift Wing public affairs director, "and the Guard and Reserve are both preparing for this test."

Lt. Col. Jeffrey Vandootingh, 758th Airlift Squadron director of operations at Pittsburgh Air Reserve Station, Pa., was one of the Airmen who lent his experience to Niagara Airmen by way of being on the 914th Airlift Wing Exercise Evaluation Team.

"What I think is great is that [members of the Guard and Reserve] paired up to train like this," said Vandootingh. "The two sides bring different experiences to the table; one side may [have dealt with] a scenario that the other side hasn't and vice versa."

Lt Col. Richard Barker, acting director of 22nd Air Force intelligence as well as current EET member for this exercise stated that this is one of the first times he has seen training like this.

Airmen work together on the operational side of the spectrum in situations such as an overseas deployment regardless if they are Guard, Reserve or Active Duty. It benefits all Air Force members to learn how to train together and learn from one another in those training scenarios. All Airmen should train to the same standard, said Barker.

In the event of any exercise or real-world disaster, an Airman from any career can be called to perform force protection duty. Such was the case for the Airmen on the other side of the installation who stood guard at an entry control point in full Mission Oriented Protective Posture gear .

" Exercises like these are important for real-world events," said Airman 1st Class Sarah Jane Taylor, 136th Airlift Squadron loadmaster. "Many Airmen are new to this unit and are slated to deploy in the coming year so these exercises are very important to us."