Final sprint to finish upon us Published April 17, 2009 By Col. Jay Raymond 21st Space Wing Commander PETERSON AIR FORCE BASE, Colorado -- This is it, the final few days of our Operational Readiness and Unit Compliance inspections. With our out-brief scheduled for Monday, this is the last sprint to the finish. Let's keep up the motivation and professionalism. Over the last week, we have had some very dramatic and interesting scenarios, including one where I 'died' in a simulated attack on our base; but now I'm "back from the dead", and together we have shown the inspectors how well we respond to emergency and catastrophic events. As with many of our operational readiness exercises, our emergency and first responders played a crucial and critical role, from securing crime scenes to catching the bad guys, from putting out fires to treating medical emergencies, and from blowing up suspicious packages to search and recovery efforts. In addition to our professional emergency responders, our personnel also utilized their self aid and buddy care training and correctly used the information in our Wing Readiness guide. I was proud to see our team maintain their professionalism during this simulated attack. Also, while we were reacting to these simulated events, our firefighters and medical personnel had to respond to real-world situations, including a dormitory fire, a medical emergency, as well as the myriad calls our emergency personnel respond to on any given week. Well done to all of our first responders. Everyone pulled together -Medical, Security Forces, Communications, Civil Engineer, Contracting, Bioenvironmental, Force Support, Logistics Readiness, OSI, Safety, just to name a few- the whole base was tested in the scenario. As our headquarters building was "attacked", our personnel performed admirably as they evacuated the building and provided care for their wounded Airmen. Afterwards, they still had to figure out how to keep the mission going. All of our command staff and Director of Staff personnel and many of the Operations Group had to re-locate to continue with their mission. Although they were working in austere and unfamiliar locations, I am happy to report that they adapted and overcame and pressed on as if nothing had changed. By moving into an office here and a spare desk there, they were able to keep the wing functioning despite the hectic pace - great job. On Monday our mission to deploy Warrior Airmen was tested with a simulated rapid deployment line. Over 100 members of our wing were called to deploy with very little notice. Our Unit Deployment Managers and logistics personnel did an outstanding job ensuring we met the requirement. They showed the inspectors how we are ready to meet our global deployment needs on a moment's notice. There is not enough time to tell you of all the great things the wing has accomplished - and not just during these inspections - but in our everyday operations. From the bottom of my heart, thank you for all the hard work and extra effort you give on a daily basis, to make sure we succeed as the premiere wing in AFSPC. We are America's Space Superiority wing, and I consider it an honor to be your commander - keep up the great work. In other news, the 21st SW hosted the annual Team Pete Awards Ceremony last week following a weather delay. These are the best of the best that Peterson has to offer. Congratulations to the winners in each category, the competition was extremely tight. The winners were: - Junior enlisted of the year - Senior Airman Alex Royal, 13th Air Support Operations Squadron - NCO of the Year - Tech. Sgt. William Picket, 13th Air Support Operation Squadron - Senior NCO of the year - Senior Master Sgt. Joel Brown, 21st Space Wing - First sergeant of the year - Master Sgt. John Facemire, 21st Space Wing - Company grade officer of the year - Capt. Jayson Schmiedt, 13th Air Support Operation Squadron - Category I civilian of the year - Justin Ochsendorf, 721st Mission Support Group - Category II civilian of the year - Caroline Ross, U.S. Northern Command - Category I supervisory civilian of the year - Donald Jordan, 21st Space Wing - Category II supervisory civilian of the year - Martha Wilkinson, Air Force Space Command. All of the nominees and winners truly embody excellence and service. Congratulations to all of you. Thanks for all for your hard work and dedication to the mission, Peterson Air Force Base and the U.S. Air Force. On a final note, I want to personally thank Chief Master Sgt. Alfred Herring for his tremendous service and leadership as the 821st Air Base Group superintendent. He is getting ready to permanently depart the Arctic climate of Thule for the warm desert heat of Nevada. He was just selected as the next command chief for the 99th Air Base Wing. This is a huge complement to his leadership and character. Congratulations Chief, keep up the great work.