130th Airlift Wing Conducts Readiness Exercise Validation Published Sept. 14, 2023 By 1st Lt. Alexis Farmer and 2nd Lt. De-Juan Haley, 130th Airlift Wing Air National Guard Public Affairs GULFPORT, Miss. - Around 350 Airmen from the 130th Airlift Wing in Charleston, West Virginia, deployed to Gulfport, Mississippi, Sept 7-10 for the Fly Away Readiness Exercise Validation (FLARE-V). The members participated in various scenarios that tested unit readiness, including a mock attack, tactical combat casualty care, chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear response, and career field-specific tasks. The unit also practiced agile combat employment to increase survivability while generating combat power, and the multicapable Airman concept. While the Airmen participated in the exercise, the Wing Inspector General's office evaluated their performance. Air Mobility Command's IG also attended to assess, validate, and report wing and subordinate units' readiness against their directed requirements. A readiness exercise is a full-scale or functional exercise that provides a practical evaluation to validate unit readiness. This exercise informs commanders of their units' ability to generate, employ and sustain combat capability. "This exercise allowed us to demonstrate our readiness and receive validation from our higher headquarters, the Air Mobility Command," said Col. Bryan Preece, commander of the 130th Airlift Wing. "I'm proud of our Airmen and their commitment to staying ready for any environment." The FLARE exercise was part of the Air Force's larger mechanism of continuous assessment by the wing, MAJCOM, and the service through a series of evaluative events, including scalable wing-level exercises, joint exercises, complex and operationally informed training events, real-world deployments, and the validation of readiness reporting procedures.