ORI: Time to Prepare Published Feb. 25, 2011 By By Maj. Paul Barthel commander, 45th Logistics Readiness Flight PATRICK AFB, Fla. -- Over the coming months we are going to step into high gear preparing for our Operational Readiness Inspection. Having just come from an assignment wearing the black hat as part of the ACC Inspector General Team I wanted to provide a few tips as far as what I saw in hopes that it may help us get ready. If you are not talking to your counterpart on the IG at least three months out from the inspection you are in trouble. Working together you can hammer out a lot of issues prior to the inspection's start. If you wait until the team is on the ground your unit will be behind the power curve. Leadership at all levels needs to lead. It doesn¹t matter if you are a Squadron Commander or a shop NCOIC; you have to be out and with your troops you cannot lead from behind a desk. There will always be "fog and friction" related with any inspection. Simply respond to every situation as if it was the real world. Although some scenarios may not make 100% sense, always assess the situation and take action. Common sense and a sense of urgency are your best friends during an inspection. If you see a negative trend get in front of it. The IG will let you know the areas you are not doing well in, this is your cue to allocate resources to fix the issue before it grows. An inspection is an imperfect tool, but it is the best tool we have to assess how our Airmen will respond when they are tasked to go into harms way. All of us have different jobs, skills and specialties. However, we are all Airmen and we can all be called upon to jump in a convoy, secure a perimeter or perform self-aid and buddy care to save someone¹s life. Although we do not yet have the exact date, we do know the IG is bringing the fight to the 45th Space Wing, it is time to get ready.