Warrior program puts focus on unit capability Published July 12, 2007 By Senior Airman Chris Bolen 434th Air Refueling Wing Public Affairs GRISSOM AIR RESERVE BASE, Ind., -- Project Warrior is the 434th Air Refueling Wing's new effort designed to highlight key elements of deployment preparation and to provide feed back for Grissom personnel and their units. The project, which started in April, was conceived by Brig. Gen. Dean Despinoy, 434th ARW commander, as a way to look at wing capability, and develop ways to improve it. Lt. Col. Greg DeMaio, performance planner, is acting as the facilitator for the project. The colonel utilized the skills and abilities of several wing members to pull it together. "It's designed to help us keep our eye on the ball for what the Wing needs to be able to deploy," he noted. The focus is on individual and unit preparedness however, there is also a desire to make this competitive and measurable. "Although it's meant to act as a report card, so to speak, on how we are doing in key areas, we also want to make it competitive and fun," the colonel continued. The metrics are tracked monthly and rewarded quarterly. Those units achieving a 'Warrior Factor' of 95 percent on the metrics for the previous quarter will receive the Warrior Award. In recognition of receiving the award, units will receive and display a "W" on their unit signs. Additionally, unit members will be eligible to sign out one hour early on the final day of the unit training assembly, at their commander's discretion. "As the project continues we will add more metrics, and tweak the process, but we wanted to get it going and allow people to become accustomed to it," he explained. "We basically want people to realize the importance of individual and unit readiness by identifying 'hot spots' and focusing their efforts to improve deployment preparation," the colonel concluded.
