Lajes Airmen tested on readiness capabilities

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman Troy Davis
  • Detachment 6, Air Force News Agency
LAJES FIELD, Azores (AFNEWS) --  Airmen here perform one of today's most vital missions -- directly supporting servicemembers going to and from deployed locations fighting the war on terrorism around the world. 

Their readiness was put to the test in mid March during the base's Operation Readiness Inspection, which tests the mission readiness of an installation during contingency situations. 

Geographically, Lajes Field may be far from any direct combat, but operationally, the base is right in the middle of it.

"This ORI tested how well we deployed, which is something Lajes is doing," said Col. Robert Winston, the 65th Air Base Wing commander. "We are deploying Airmen to the fight, yet at the same time, Lajes is a forward-deployed location. So, while we send off groups of individuals (downrange), we support the airplanes, we receive tanker task forces. That is the mission of Lajes."

That mission is something Colonel Winston doesn't want his Airmen to lose sight of. When he took over as wing commander, he said he used a concise phrase to focus the way his Airmen think about their role.

"We changed (our motto) to 'Lajes in the fight' from 'Crossroads in the Atlantic' because I thought it was important everybody understand that we are warfighters, even here in the middle of the Atlantic," Colonel Winston said. "A simple statement of what our mission is -- warplanes, warfighters, and global communication to and from the fight -- helps everybody understand what their role is."

The wing received an excellent rating in the ORI, proving that Lajes Field Airmen play a valuable role in the fight.

"Even though you may be a finance professional, fuels technician, or chaplain's assistant, you're still a warfighter first," Colonel Winston said. "You're job is to defeat the enemy. Now how do you do that? You do it by doing your particular specialty to the best of your ability, because you're part of a team that gets the iron on target." 

Comment on this story (comments may be published on Air Force Link)

Click here to view the comments/letters page