r 'he A1 Jab er Sir oc CO
8. '22/95
IT \i Kir \JiJX^ *Sirocco~a hoi, oppressive wind
This is an informal newsletter whose purpose is to-bririp; spouse and non-deploying personnel up to sp^..J on iuappeiiiiigs in
Kuwait " Enjoy1 — Col Lou Meier. Commander, 111th Fighter Group
OPERATION READINESS INSPECTION
(ORI) LOW-DOWN
A DAY IN THE LIFE OF."
A "DESERT RAT;" I.E., A CREW CHIEF
We w-.-re the first ANG unit to overlap a Phase I ORJ with a
real-worid deployment. The Active Duty & AF Reserves had
done it. but we were the first Guard unit to do it.
Tiit- basis of the accomplishment was two-fold. First, the IG
had to understand we had to get the planes to Kuwait. Second,
we had to change our thinking that "'this is an ORI" to "this is a
deployment."
The 111th pioneered the idea of using non-deploying
personnel; i.e., civil engineers & motor pool, to become expert
teams at performing various mobility duties," lt worked great.
We had the "Pallet Pigs" (built pallets of cargo)""Cargo
Shufflers" (moved cargo)""Cargo Jammers" (loaded
airplanes)""People Pushers" (moved people through the
mobilitv line)" These were highly motivated teams who really
cared about their jobs.
On the aircraft generation and deployment end of things,
maintenance and operations had to critically coordinate in order
to produce fifteen mission ready aircraft to take off on time.
And it happened!
0130 - Alarm sounds in air conditioned tent."""""""""""..Need flashlight to get to latrine because of
scorpions & camel spiders"..Temps are a cool 80° F"..A warm wind blows off the desert"..Mosey down to Hog Rock Dining Facility, open
24 hours, for a custom made breakfast prepared by
LBDs (Little Blue Dudes). The LBDs are the
Bangladesh nationals whose cooking expertise far
exceeds their stature.""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
0230 - Catch the bus to the flight line...5-10minute
drive...still dark"..Show pass &give secret word to Kuwaiti guard"..Get briefed on jobs".Pic! up second spouse (large blue bottle of water)"
& head out into the night
Page 1
(continued)
r 'he A1 Jab er Sir oc CO
8. '22/95
IT \i Kir \JiJX^ *Sirocco~a hoi, oppressive wind
This is an informal newsletter whose purpose is to-bririp; spouse and non-deploying personnel up to sp^..J on iuappeiiiiigs in
Kuwait " Enjoy1 — Col Lou Meier. Commander, 111th Fighter Group
OPERATION READINESS INSPECTION
(ORI) LOW-DOWN
A DAY IN THE LIFE OF."
A "DESERT RAT;" I.E., A CREW CHIEF
We w-.-re the first ANG unit to overlap a Phase I ORJ with a
real-worid deployment. The Active Duty & AF Reserves had
done it. but we were the first Guard unit to do it.
Tiit- basis of the accomplishment was two-fold. First, the IG
had to understand we had to get the planes to Kuwait. Second,
we had to change our thinking that "'this is an ORI" to "this is a
deployment."
The 111th pioneered the idea of using non-deploying
personnel; i.e., civil engineers & motor pool, to become expert
teams at performing various mobility duties," lt worked great.
We had the "Pallet Pigs" (built pallets of cargo)""Cargo
Shufflers" (moved cargo)""Cargo Jammers" (loaded
airplanes)""People Pushers" (moved people through the
mobilitv line)" These were highly motivated teams who really
cared about their jobs.
On the aircraft generation and deployment end of things,
maintenance and operations had to critically coordinate in order
to produce fifteen mission ready aircraft to take off on time.
And it happened!
0130 - Alarm sounds in air conditioned tent."""""""""""..Need flashlight to get to latrine because of
scorpions & camel spiders"..Temps are a cool 80° F"..A warm wind blows off the desert"..Mosey down to Hog Rock Dining Facility, open
24 hours, for a custom made breakfast prepared by
LBDs (Little Blue Dudes). The LBDs are the
Bangladesh nationals whose cooking expertise far
exceeds their stature.""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
0230 - Catch the bus to the flight line...5-10minute
drive...still dark"..Show pass &give secret word to Kuwaiti guard"..Get briefed on jobs".Pic! up second spouse (large blue bottle of water)"
& head out into the night
Page 1
(continued)
