Deployment exercise tests mission readiness

  • Published
  • By Airman 1st Class Travis Beihl and Kemberly Groue
  • 81st Training Wing Public Affairs

Team Keesler tested its ability to maintain mission readiness with a deployment exercise here, Dec. 2-9, 2016.

This base-wide exercise simulated a short-notice deployment for its defense chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear and explosive reactionary force team.

“The 81st Medical Group was tasked to provide medical support in response to a Defense CBRNE incident for this exercise,” said Staff Sgt. Jason McClean, 81st Medical Support Squadron medical war reserve material NCO in charge. “The role of the 81st MDG was to showcase our ability to meticulously maintain our war reserve materiel assets and to show that we're capable of assembling and preparing our cargo for deployment when called upon.”

The 81st Logistics Readiness Squadron also played a large role in the exercise by effectively coming together to deploy people and cargo.

“We at LRS are the deployment machine,” said Lt. Col. Melissa Harrison, 81st LRS commander. “We had four planes which had to be loaded with 125 passengers and 52 tons of cargo and the way we judge success is if the planes depart on time and if everybody went to their deployed location with all the required equipment they need. So, by those standards, we did very well.”

Although Keesler is a training base, these types of exercises are pertinent to the many Keesler personnel who can be tasked to deploy at a moment’s notice.

“Exercises like these are always important because they provide us with a platform to practice and improve in areas of our job description that we're rarely given the opportunity to execute,” said McClean. “It's an opportunity to identify our weak points and correct them, so that we're capable of executing them flawlessly in a real world situation.”