BEALE AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. –
The 940th Air Refueling Wing successfully completed an operational readiness inspection in spite of challenges, according to Col. Al Reif, wing commander.
"I am very proud of the way the 940th ARW came together in the face of multiple Base Realignment and Closure challenges to prevail over this dynamic demonstration of operational capability," he said.
The 940th ARW deployed to Gulfport, Miss., Feb. 5-10, 2008 where they joined up with the 445th Airlift Wing, Wright Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio and the 452nd Air Mobility Wing, March Air Reserve Base, Calif., to create the 802nd Air Expeditionary Wing.
According to 940th Operations Support Flight chief of plans, Lt. Col. Ron Gray, the ORI was already scheduled before the May 2005 BRAC realigning the wing. The BRAC decision adjusted the timeline for the ORI, and portions of the operations and maintenance functions were released.
"It was a tremendous effort that paid off with success," said Col. Gray. "The grade cannot fully reflect the degree of effort put into this inspection since we were fully involved with BRAC and other real world missions."
"We never gave up," said Col. Reif. "We continued to learn and work together to finally earn Brig. Gen. Lustig's assessment that the 802nd Air Expeditionary Wing is worthy to deploy. (General Lustig is the Inspector General for Air Mobility Command) We are extremely happy to be done with the ORI."
"Well done, 940th ARW," added Col. Gray.