ORI from the top: "Do it right...win the fight." Published July 26, 2011 By Capt. Carla Gleason 433rd Airlift Wing Public Affairs LACKLAND AIR FORCE BASE, TEXAS -- Three states, three wings, three air frames, one Operational Readiness Inspection; as far as the top is concerned, it all adds up to success. Three of the wings' key leaders involved, Colonels Kenneth D. Lewis, 433rd Airlift Wing commander, Craig LaFave, 403rd Wing vice commander and Jesse T. Simmons, 165th Airlift Wing commander, recently shared their views about the impending inspection. "We're fired up about it," said Lewis. "Different counterparts from the various wings have met together on more than one occasion now; it's taken some of the apprehension of working three wings together and replaced it with confidence." The operational readiness inspections, conducted by a team of up to 100 people from a major command's inspector general's office, measure how prepared a wing or unit is to go to war. The weeklong undertakings look at all war-fighting functions -- from personnel paperwork to how many aircraft take off on schedule. Motivated by cost savings, compressed timelines and inspection requirements, the 433rd Airlift Wing's Operational Readiness Inspection, scheduled for January of next year, will involve three wings this year as opposed to just two during the last inspection. "Bringing three weapon systems into one fight is not unlike a real Air Expeditionary Wing experience," said LaFave. "It gives the participants perspective on today's total fight concept." The Air Mobility Command inspector general office will combine the inspections for the 433rd, 403rd and 165th wings in January, bringing together air frames that wouldn't normally be graded together at the same time. "Although we often combined three wings at a time for inspections, this is a unique pairing of air frames," said William Bergen from the AMC IG office. "We normally wouldn't pair C-5s with C-130s, but in this case with the schedule of the three wings it just made sense." That means the wings will need to work together from a distance to build teams and prepare for the inspection. According to Simmons, while there are always issues that arise when dealing with three geographically separated units and merging them for one ORI, there are actions leadership can take to ease the strain. "Communication is key. It's the foundation of the ORI'" said Simmons. "By bringing representatives from various functions in each wing together, we have been able to work out some of the technical aspects, like shift scheduling and process integration beforehand. It allows us to match strengths and work effectively throughout the ORI." "Success is all about attitude," said Lewis. "Attitude will make or break our success in the ORI." Which is a sentiment that is evident by the ORI motto selected collectively by the three wings: "Do it right ... win the fight."