New year deploys Airmen to Southwest Asia

  • Published
  • By Tech. Sgt. Scott Pryor
  • 911 AW/PA
PITTSBURGH IAP ARS --  Time to rest? Not for the 911th Airlift Wing.


Despite just completing a successful Operational Readiness Inspection that required months of preparation, time didn't stop. World events dictate that the 911th AW's operators, maintainers and resources gear up again.

Airmen from the base will take part in a four-month deployment to the Area of Responsibility in support of Overseas Contingency Operations. The deployed unit will fly missions throughout the AOR to conduct intra-theater airlift.

The deployment will involve multiple aircrews and aircraft, and numerous maintenance members, all taking place on the heels of the ORI.
"These are two events that both had to happen. Both have been a big draw on people and resources; they just happened to fall together. But we're ready to go. Most of our deploying Operations people are volunteers," said Lt. Col. Tom Huzzard, 911th Operations Group chief of standardization and evaluation.
The colonel said that about half of the members deploying also took part in the ORI.
Initial planning for this deployment for the Operations side began at the beginning of the year.

"As we approached the end of summer, planning for both the ORI and desert deployment were both ratcheted up significantly. Both events are a huge effort requiring months of planning to be successful. It was not an option to finish one and then start planning and preparing for the other," Colonel Huzzard said.

For Maintenance, planning also began many months ago.

"We began planning for both the ORI and the deployment over a year ago. As busy as we have been, and with the short period of time between the ORI and the deployment, there just wasn't enough time to focus on one, then the other, said Capt. Tom Filbert, 911th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron operations officer.

"Our primary and alternate "players" for the ORI were identified last December and we began making sure everyone was ready to go for the ORI as far as training requirements: ID cards, medical records, etc., were up to date. We also began to identify the individuals who would deploy to the AOR and, in many cases, they are the same people. We had a bunch of volunteers to do both!" Captain Filbert said.
He said that about 30-40 percent of members deploying will have been involved in the ORI and the deployment. Those individuals had to be fully qualified and up to date on all training through the ORI. Maintenance also had to ensure they were compliant through the end of the deployment as well.

The group also had a Maintenance Standardization and Evaluation Program Inspection this past summer and underwent a change of command two months before the ORI, both of which added to the challenge of preparing for the deployment.
The deployed unit will be a stand-alone squadron and will replace another Reserve unit.