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EET serves as behind-the-scenes inspection team

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman Kali L. Gradishar
  • 52nd Fighter Wing Public Affairs
SPANGDAHLEM AIR BASE, Germany --  As the majority of 52nd Fighter Wing members charged into Operation Saber Crown 10-3, a smaller group of individuals were on the sidelines evaluating the movements, processes and procedures of each unit throughout the phase one exercise.

The exercise evaluation team, or EET, provides oversight of actions taken during exercises to ensure the wing is performing at or above the Saber Standard. The work for EET members, however, starts long before and continues after an exercise takes place. For each exercise, EET members from all units play a huge role in the inspection of the wing - from planning and evaluating to giving feedback and writing reports.

"The role of an EET member is to be out during exercises to evaluate, educate and motivate the wing," said Maj. Brett Herman, chief of wing inspections.

EET members evaluate how we do our processes, they educate Airmen and help them understand their checklists and processes better, and the EET motivates Airmen by letting them know how well they're doing and giving direct feedback, he added.

The EET is comprised of individuals from various units who are either higher in rank or have a wide range of experience in their career field. Each evaluator has the knowledge and experience to properly inspect their respective units.

EET "members are people who are senior in their career field - experts in their career field - who are recommended by their supervisor and commander to fill that role. Because they are an expert, they are able to see where discrepancies may lie," Major Herman said. "We evaluate how the processes work and how well people are following the checklists... to meet the objectives of the exercise.

"EET members are valuable because they bring the subject-matter expertise. If we don't have them, it's me going out to evaluate maintenance or the logistics side. I don't know anything about that job," he added. "It helps the whole EET function."

The variation in each unit's mission and having EET members for each specialty provides Airmen a valuable resource to ensure they are well-equipped and prepared not only for an exercise, but also for real-world missions.

"As EET, my role is basically as an inspector. I am part of a team that is the eyes and ears of the maintenance people," said Tech. Sgt. Marcus Donald, 52nd Maintenance Group EET member. "I am their data source. If they have a problem or there's something they don't understand on what they're supposed to be doing, we as EET or (quality assurance) are their subject-matter experts. We're supposed to be there for them to have that knowledge."

At the end of an exercise, the inspection team meets to discuss findings and provide valuable information to wing leadership, including best practices and areas in need of improvement.

"There's a lot of work that goes into it right after the exercise. We work on getting the exercise findings published and to the leadership for review so we can distribute them to the wing," Major Herman said.

While the 52nd FW EET is busy planning, exercising, evaluating and reporting on Spangdahlem's units, they're also providing insight to evaluators from another base. Master Sgt. Dave Hatch, 48th Fighter Wing Air Force Repair Enhancement Program manager, visited the base from Royal Air Force Lakenheath to get a picture of how a phase one inspection team works.

"I'm here to help Lakenheath prepare for the upcoming NATO evaluation just by shadowing some of the EET inspectors here," said Sergeant Hatch, who is new to Lakenheath's evaluation team. "While I'm here, I plan to take home some lessons learned. This gives us a different look. It will help us prepare on all levels.

"I feel the exercises help us prepare for real-world situations. They help shake the rust off the things we don't do day to day... (EET) is a great program. It's a necessary program. It's something you have to have," he said.

EET members are an asset to the wing as they bring to light particular areas their unit needs to improve or areas that aren't inspected as often to guarantee mission success.

"We rely on our EET members to bring us ideas and inputs for the exercises so we can plan appropriately to test the wing on what the commanders want to see, what their objectives are and what they want to see exercised," Major Herman noted.

"The biggest thing is, as a wing, we've got a lot of work to do to get prepped and ready for our ORI and TACEVAL this June," he said. "We've got more exercises following this one, so everyone just needs to work hard and be patient, and we'll do well once June rolls around."