An official website of the United States government
A .mil website belongs to an official U.S. Department of Defense organization in the United States.
A lock (lock ) or https:// means you’ve safely connected to the .mil website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.

Making the grade; an EORI ‘how to’ guide

  • Published
  • By Maj. Chris Kirkland
  • 315th AW Performance Planner
CHARLESTON AFB, S.C. --  The Expeditionary Operational Readiness Inspection is looming on the horizon for the 437th, 315th, and 172nd Airlift Wings, to be called henceforth the 801st Air Expeditionary Wing. 

I have often been asked my opinion on what needs to be done to get a successful grade. Well, to tell the truth, I reply "it's P4." "What's P4?" is usually the next question I'm asked. Well, P4 is Planning, Preparation, Practice, and Performance. Put them all together and you have the secret to success to most anything you do in life, and this includes EORIs. How do you apply it? Ah, good question. Come with me grasshopper and let me show you the way. 

No doubt you've heard that planning is the foundation for which you must build on for success. Without proper planning, you can virtually predict which endeavors will end up on the scrapheap of failure. So, before any major event is undertaken, it is appropriate to have the proper plan; so how do you do this for an EORI? Well, very simple, you do this by talking to your counterparts in the other wings who are also exercising and review the reports on the Air Mobility Command Inspector General's website from previous EORIs. Then, talk with the Inspector General about the areas you found in the reports which relate to your work area. Next, pull the Mission Essential Tasks (METS) which are listed on the AMC IG site as well and review them with everyone who will be participating in the EORI, so they know exactly what will be expected of them during the exercise. Sounds like simple common sense doesn't it? The one thing I have found in my life is that common sense is not so common, and what seems elementary to someone else is not so elementary to others. The best advice here is: Communicate! Review the pitfalls other units experienced and plan for contingencies if you experience similar problems. 

Now that you've got the planning part done, the next step is preparing. This means getting all the paperwork done and taking care of those little things that you know need doing now, so they don't become a big "gotcha" when you show up on the processing line for deployment. Preparing these things ahead of time means you won't be scrambling at the last minute to accomplish them. 

Great, now that you've got the planning and preparing part done, it's time for the practice part. As we recently found out in our initial response exercise, no matter how hard you plan and prepare, if you don't practice you become rusty. Many like to argue that we've been doing this for real the past five years, but as we found out there is still plenty of room for improvement. The only way to improve as an athlete, musician, or an EORI participant is by practicing. So, if the three wings, which make up the 801st AEW, are to receive a good grade, we must practice together and do it in a manner in which we are seamless in our processes. No doubt our week long practice in August will be hot and humid in Gulfport, Miss., but remember, with practice comes perfection. 

Now that we have done the planning, preparation, and practice, it's time for the performance, and to be honest, you have probably heard this saying a hundred times and will most likely hear it for the rest of your career, but it remains as solid today as it did when it was first coined, "fight like we have practiced." There you have it, the secrets to a successful EORI. It is in the planning, preparation, practice and performance--P4. Seems like common sense doesn't it?