Well done 21 SW Knights Published April 21, 2009 By Col. Jay Raymond 21st Space Wing commander PETERSON AIR FORCE BASE, Colo. -- Congratulations Knights! After 32 days of the most robust Operational Readiness and Compliance Inspections in Air Force Space Command history, our inspections are over. I am happy to report that with our overall satisfactory rating, the AFSPC IG will not be returning. Through the course of the last 32 days, and over the last year, I have personally witnessed great heroics emerging from all corners of our wing. We have been running hard to get our programs and units inspection ready. Everyone in the wing has worked extremely hard and has sacrificed greatly to get us ready, and it showed. This was not your normal ORI and CI. There were 109 inspectors inspecting every portion of our wing. These were truly global inspections and the most comprehensive in the history of the 21st Space Wing. The inspectors not only thoroughly inspected us here at Peterson and Cheyenne Mountain, they also inspected 21st SW units at Thule, Clear, Eglin, Cape Cod, Beale, Moron, Copenhagen, Socorro and Dahlgren; and visited all nine locations along the Air Force Space Surveillance Fence. Every Airman in our wing did outstanding things, both in preparing for and during the ORI/CI. I could never mention everyone who contributed. However, I can mention some notable offices which truly made a difference. Our four security forces squadrons did fantastic work. They responded to numerous security related inspection injects while tackling several real-world events. Our four fire departments responded to a total of 15 exercise scenarios and four large scale emergency management exercises and multiple real-world emergencies to include two heart attacks, a dormitory fire, and an HVAC coolant leak. Communications security was the one special interest item assessed during the CI. Over the past year, our COMSEC program went from being a dismal program to one that was rated by the IG as "In Compliant", the highest rating in the CI. This was no small task, and one that was due to the great efforts of our COMSEC team. The operations group was inundated with 22 crew evaluations and 21 received qualified ratings. 59 crew members were evaluated, with a 95 percent pass rate. Additionally, our operation support squadron intelligence office did absolutely amazing work, garnering an Outstanding rating in the ORI, a rating that very rarely is given in today's inspections. Our Peterson Installation Control Center was inspected continuously for the 32 days. Our controllers were the command and control link for all inspection and real world events. They are the eyes and ears of the wing. Additionally, every controller passed their IG evaluation, a perfect 10 for 10. Our personnel reliability program managers maintain a near error-free program and was recognized in the IG out-brief. They work hand-in-hand with our medical staff to ensure we are meeting Department of Defense requirements. Our success would never have been possible without our own IG team and their hard work. They have been working tirelessly over the last year to prepare our wing. All of our Condor Crest exercises were due to them. Great work and thank you for all of your hard work. Again, these recognitions are in no way all-inclusive. Every one of you was critical to our success. My personal kudos to all of you who went the extra mile, working long hours to ensure the success of our wing's mission. Great job Knights! One sad event did occur during our inspections. The 21st Space Wing family lost one of our own. Mr Steve Durand, 21st Civil Engineer Squadron, recently passed away. He was a vital part of our wing and valued Airman. Our thoughts and prayers are with his family. Steve, you will be missed, but we will always keep you with us in our hearts. As a small thanks for your hard work, on Thursday, we will spend the day enjoying a well-deserved break. We will have a wing fun day consisting of activities at the gym, bowling alley, golf course and the running trail and a free lunch. Additionally, since I know that many of you have not been able to spend much time recently with friends or family, I have declared Friday, a Wing down day. Get out and enjoy the expected great weather. You deserve it. One thing to remember this coming weekend, please be safe, responsible and practice good operational risk management. Have a Wingman and have a plan. If you are out, and plan on drinking alcohol, be sure to have a "drunk-proof" plan to get home. There are numerous options available for you, such as using a sober wingman, a co-worker, or a supervisor to drive you home. Or you could call a taxi or 556-DASH for a safe drive home. Or you could stay put where you are until you are sober enough to drive yourself. Just remember, driving drunk is never OK. Before closing, I would like to thank the AFSPC IG team for their professionalism throughout the inspection. In medical terms you gave us a full body scan, and we are better off for it. We strive to be flawless and your comprehensive look will help us towards that end. So again Knights, great job, thanks for all you do. Awesome job