Top five ways to prepare for an Operational Readiness Inspection

  • Published
  • By Lt. Col. Bonnie Tremblett
  • 507 ARW Performance Manager
TINKER AIR FORCE BASE, Okla. --  Someone recently asked what "top five" things we can do to prepare for an operational readiness inspection. 

That's a very good question, because there are some things we should all keep in mind about preparing this critical inspection.  ORIs are held every 60 months and are an opportunity to demonstrate a wing's skills to a higher headquarter's inspector general. 

The first recommendation is to know your job, inside and out.  Know your mission essential task lists thoroughly and be able to demonstrate job proficiency. When you know your job, your confidence is markedly higher and you're more likely to really shine when the environment is "IG-stressed." 

Second, know why you're doing what you're doing and why it's important. A typical Air Force Reserve wing put hundreds of volunteers on the road every year to participate in all theaters under at least a half-dozen different operational or humanitarian missions. What we do is important.

Think about our fellow Airmen who are deployed, who have deployed or who will deploy.  Regardless whether you deploy or not, be absolutely certain that what we do matters to others and we all need to do our jobs  to the best of our abilities. 

Third, remember that attitude is everything. If you're not all about achieving and maintaining a positive attitude, you're already behind. Take every opportunity to learn, ask questions, talk to one another, adopt best practices, ask your supervisor questions, and read other units' ORI reports. Then reflect on what you bring to the fight. Everyone can be the best at leading a positive ORI campaign with pride.

Fourth, participate in home-station and deployed Ability to Survive and Operate (ATSO) exercises. Be good at getting "MOPP'ed up," and be able to do your job with your protective equipment on. ATSO applies to all of us, including our equipment, and can't be overemphasized. There's an expression about wearing a "chocolate suit." Don't melt down because you're not used to operating in your gear. 

Also, take pride in your exercise participation and in your skill sets. Normally about one-fourth of a collective ORI grade will be ATSO demonstrations and appropriate responses. The only way to be good at those is to practice. 

Finally, embrace the ORI rhythm; it has a meter to it. In a thousand-person-strong wing, only about 350 people will be tasked to deploy to an ORI. Whether you're a deployer or you support the home team getting out of town, remember that we represent our wing in its entirety to headquarters and to the rest of the Air Force. We need to do our very best because it matters.