Oh the Times, Are they Really A’ Changin’

  • Published
  • By Col. Patrick Dufraine
  • 439th Airlift Wing
The memory is still fresh in my mind. “Malmstrom Tower, this is the Strategic Air Command Inspector General Team. We are 15 nautical miles from your location. Our intention is to conduct Nuclear Surety and Operational Readiness Inspections at your wings and we are requesting initial instruction.”
So it began. For the next week, our base wings would be brushed with the fine-toothed comb of the SAC IG Team. The first phase was the Nuclear Surety Inspection. Although the stakes were high, the rules were straightforward: can you execute the mission? Once, my crew was selected to be the final team evaluated in the Missile Procedures Trainer. Waiting for us at the door of the simulator stood my squadron commander, group commander, and wing commander. All three cheered us on: “Go get ‘em. You can do it.” No Pressure on two
lieutenants!
The ORI had a much different vibe. All aspects of our wing were placed under the microscope. Paperwork was scoured, tests were taken to prove our knowledge, and the inspectors knew their business well.
While I can’t recall the grass being painted, no AFSC escaped the thorough review of our visitors from Offutt AFB. At the end of the inspection, however, we knew where we stood.
Why was there such scrutiny given to us during these visits from the SAC IG? SAC’s mission was a serious business and the American public demanded that those in control of our nuclear mission were highly trained and motivated. The Cold War was on, our force numbers were high to meet the obvious threat, and we could not afford even a scratch in our strategic forces. As a result, SAC placed a high premium on fielding large, highly-trained inspection teams to reassure the DoD and the American public that we knew our jobs.
Fast forward 25 years. Our mission today is different, but no less serious. Our forces are smaller and our adversaries are not as obvious. We have to prepare for a wide variety of contingencies and do so within the constraints of reduced resources.
Large inspection teams searching under every dandelion in base housing are a thing of the past. Now, the yardstick to measure our mission effectiveness is given to us. We are the experts and we are responsible for identifying when we can meet our mission, or why we cannot. Although today may appear to lack the pressure (and dread) of those long ago IG visits, it requires a greater self-disciplined, time dedicated approach at all levels of an operational wing. In the blur of a UTA, that time may seem hard to carve out, but it is an essential facet of the Air Force Inspection System. If you are a leader at any level, give your WIT members time to review processes and procedures. Sit down with them and listen to the assessments of their findings. Make improvements if you are able, and sound the alarm if you can’t meet the mission given your resources. Assurance to our command and the
American public is still required under our new inspection system. That Capstone visit is coming. Let’s listen to the cheers of past leaders and “Go get ‘em.”