Getting Ready for the ORI.

  • Published
  • By Chief Master Sgt. Ed Schellhase
  • 132FW/Command Chief
It is amazing how quickly time passes around here! In April I will have been your Command Chief for three years already. During that time we've seen the Wing and our great Airmen excel at every opportunity, so much that it has almost come to be expected. Expected? Definitely, and why? Because excellence is our culture. "Excellence in all we do" is one of our core values. "To be an organization of excellence" is one of our Iowa National Guard Visions. "Excellence - Striving to be excellent in all we do, always" is one of BG Orr's principles of command. We live that way, we train that way, and we fight that way. Not only do our Airmen never back down from a challenge, they thrive at the opportunity because they are fearless leaders they see challenges as opportunities to excel.

October will bring another opportunity to excel - our Operational Readiness Inspection. We will again demonstrate our ability to execute our mission in an excellent manner, this time under the Air Combat Command microscope. There are some areas on base that are more heavily involved than others, but make no mistake, every Airman is involved. If you are unsure of your role in this important inspection, ask your supervisor. Besides our normal AFSC taskings, Airmen from across the base will be involved with a multitude of additional duties on specialized teams in support of mobilizing and deploying our weapons systems. This is another example of why it is so important the basic items are simply part of our culture - dress and appearance, customs and courtesies, safety, and professionalism. No matter how well we do with the technical portion of the inspection, if we look bad, if we act unprofessional, if we operate unsafely, we will fail. It is about following the rules. You have heard us say before that we cannot pick and choose what rules we follow, and that gets magnified during an inspection.

In 2007 then Chief of Staff of the USAF General T. Michael Moseley brought us the Airman's Creed. He said it was to "reinvigorate the warrior ethos in every Airman in our Total Force". If you have not read through the Airman's Creed lately, please do so. To all of our Airmen, past and present, we thank you for being an American Airman and we thank you for answering your nation's call. We need each of you to step up to the plate, right here and right now. As we prepare for our October challenge, remember the last line of the creed which says, "and I Will Not Fail."