The latest in Fall fashion!

Before everything else, getting ready is the secret to success.

~ Henry Ford

“Success depends upon previous preparation, and without such preparation there is sure to be failure.”

~ Confucius

Another weekend, more training! The last weekend of the September UTA trifecta is finally over. It was fast and furious as usual, but the weather was great, which make life a bit more bearable.

The big event for me this drill was the big Chemical Defense Training I've been trying to avoid for the last year. I've been flying for 26 years now, and gone through chem defense probably 14 times. It changes on a year to year basis as whoever moves into the headquarters job comes up with his/her theories on how the next war will be fought, and we just suck it up, learn the new procedures, wear the new ensembles... and basically suffer through it.

We're going to have a huge Operational Readiness Inspection in December 2009. It will test our ability to "perform our wartime mission." The funny thing is we've been doing our wartime mission for the past five years, and it looks nothing like the stuff they are going to test us on. The Iraqis and the Afghanistanis don't have any chemical weapons, and we verified that about day three of the war, yet we spend huge amounts of time and money preparing to fight in a chemical environment than no one but the Russians ever gave any indication they could operate in.

I think the fear is that if we ever fight the Chinese or North Koreans they would use chemicals. I suppose the Iranians could be a player... The problem is none of these groups actively trains to fight using chemicals. But we do. In an age of asymmetrical warfare and tight budgets, I simply think we still are spending huge amounts of money training to fight the wrong war. But that's just me.

Anyway, we had 4 hours of computer based agony, reviewing all kinds of lessons on wearing the suit and mask; using decon materials; how to survive a base attack, etc. I felt they really should have included the annual Suicide Prevention course in the mix too, just to make sure everyone made it through the training.

After a break for lunch, it was hands-on training with all the new equipment: inspecting and cleaning the mask, donning the suits, learning how to work with all the extra gear hanging off you and impeding your normal ability to do your job, and decontamination procedure. It was a full day, and by the end we were pretty much a sweaty, charcoal-covered mess. But we're ready, or at least as ready as anyone can be for the next several training exercises that will make up the coming year of inspection-prep.