MOODY AIR FORCE BASE, Ga. -- Alarm red! A siren goes off, letting individuals know they need to don the appropriate mission-oriented protective posture gear for this type of situation.

It has been a very busy five months since our last Phase II Operational Readiness Exercise, but it's almost that time again. Many of us may have even forgotten where we put our chemical gear bag.

Amidst all the other exciting and time-consuming events going on in November such as the Flying Tiger Reunion, Veteran's Day and the Community Appreciation Day Air Show, we'll also be once again donning personal protective equipment and diving for cover as we prepare for our Phase II Operational Readiness Inspection in August 2011. This ORI will test our ability to survive in a deployed location.

There will be a transition day, Nov. 15, followed by a planned 48-hour air war with numerous graded events primarily scheduled for our 23rd Mission Support Group personnel.

Despite our deployment experience, it is very important to recognize that inspections are significantly different from "the way we do it downrange."

Air Combat Command regulations require us to deliver and employ up to 125 percent of our wartime tasking. This is no small feat, especially for a unit as busy and spread out as the 23rd Wing.

We will need everyone operating at their best to help us succeed in this exercise and ultimately our inspection.

This exercise will be a major step in the development of our inspection scenario as well as one of the final opportunities for us to "test" our "Base X" plan and determine the best and most efficient way to carry out exercises at Moody.

In preparation for this exercise, I request your assistance with the following.

Locate, read and understand the portion of the Moody Base X plan directing you on how to do your job during the exercise. Each functional area has its own annex describing how your area will exercise. Know the plan, follow it and if it is wrong, rewrite it. The plan can be found on the 23rd Wing Plans SharePoint page.

Locate, read and understand the Flying Tiger 10-08 exercise letter of instruction (LOI). We will soon publish guidance outlining the "how to" on entering and exiting the play area, where to park and in some cases, when to come to work. This is another area where we need to operate within the "spirit of the law" in order to highlight areas needing improvement.

You are the expert in your field, so take ownership of the process and make it better. You may not be here in August 2011 for the ORI, so make sure the process, documentation and checklists are as accurate as possible for those who will be here.

Finally, ensure you and others are operating in accordance with published Air Force tasking orders and keeping a keen eye toward safety.

This is the first of five exercises in our preparation for our ORI, so get prepared to fight!