JOINT BASE LANGLEY-EUSTIS, Va. --
The 633rd Air Base Wing and 1st Fighter Wing evaluated their capabilities through an aircraft incident/crash exercise at July 11.
“Exercises are utilized to inspect and evaluate our capabilities; however, they are also a time to learn from our mistakes and improve our processes,” said Randall Renaud, 633rd ABW inspector general exercise program manager. “This exercise was no different; we will be able to learn from this exercise and better prepare our personnel to be ready in the event an incident does occur.”
The purpose of the exercise was to provide functional area training to minimize loss of life and injuries while teaching Airmen how to respond to an aircraft mishap or crash in a real-world event.
When an aircraft incident or mishap occurs, the emergency response members range from fire protection to bio-environmental.
“Every one of the Airmen as individuals contributes to the entire team to ensure that things are done correctly and in a timely manner,” said Staff Sgt. Ionnis Gousis a 633d Aerospace Medicine Squadron Bioenvironmental engineering craftsman. “Each member played a crucial role in this incident, and we have supreme confidence in their ability to respond in any scenario whether real world or exercise.”
According to Renaud, exercises are not about a score or making an organization look good or bad. They are about finding out areas of improvement and ensuring Airmen are provided the resources and time they need to continuously improve.
“This event was successful because of personnel from all five wings on JBLE,” Renuad said. “Overall, most of the objectives were met and we will be able to learn from this exercise and better prepare our personnel to be ready in the event an incident does occur.