Air Combat Command has taken the logical step of transforming the tried-and-true, generate-and-fly-sorties operational readiness inspection into one that better matches the expeditionary Air Force. ACC officials say the ORI has evolved into practice for what airmen are facing today in Afghanistan and Iraq—everything from mortar, rocket, and chemical attacks to facing improvised explosive devices to the stress of enduring long work hours. The goal, says Col. Tom Jones, ACC inspector general, is to evaluate “wartime skills … before our airmen deploy.”
The U.S. began extensive air and artillery strikes against Islamic State group targets in Syria on Dec. 19 in retaliation for the killing of three Americans on Dec. 13 by a gunman affiliated with ISIS, U.S. officials said.
