BATTLE CREEK, Mich. -- DVIDS - News - Battle Creek’s 110th Wing performs readiness exercise
The 110th Wing performed a full-scale readiness exercise June 3-6, 2021, at Battle Creek Air National Guard Base, Battle Creek, Mich. The purpose of the exercise is to demonstrate 110th Wing capabilities while operating in a contested, degraded, and/or operationally limited (CDO) environment. The objective is to ensure the Wing has the abilities to prepare Airmen for deployment within a 72-hour window under adverse conditions, while still executing real-world missions at home station.
The 110th Wing generates, employs, and sustains combat support elements while both in-and-out of a simulated Chemical, Radioactive, and Nuclear (CBRN) environment.
“The exercise simulates a real-world situation where each Airman must go through all the stations necessary in order to be completely prepared to deploy,” said Maj. Lucas Freudenberg, 110th Wing Inspector General.
Some sections such as the Traffic Management Office (TMO) were able to show off their skills by simulating a troop deployment exercise.
“Here at the TMO we check their orders making sure everything is correct, name, rank, emergency contact, and DOD ID number. We also weigh them and their baggage get them on the flight manifest and on their way. We have 60 minutes to complete this,” said Master Sgt. Troy Nault, traffic management superintendent.
“During all of this we have airmen building pallets with their personal bags and getting them ready to load on the aircraft,” Nault said. Following the TMO station, they move to the Logistics Readiness Squadron (LRS), where they held in a staging area until they are taken to the airport to board the plane.
LRS ensures they have a full complement of clothing necessary to deploy, that it fits and that Airmen know how to wear it properly.
“Our piece in this pre-deployment exercise is to create the bags for the members. If the reporting instructions say the members need an A, B, or C bag we then create said bags. An A bag is your general deployment bag, so it has your gas mask, web belt, canteen, body armor, and helmet,” said Master Sgt. Parker Dalla, Asset Management supervisor, 110th LRS.
110th Wing units demonstrate core Mission Essential Tasks (METS) and are evaluated in a CDO environment through all major graded areas.
“Being able to get all of the pre-deployment work done at one location is quite the accomplishment,” said Freudenberg. ‘It saves time and money for the Air Force, and shows just how dedicated and well trained, the men and women of the 110th Wing really are.”