Nearly 400 Airmen from Delaware Air Guard arrived home this weekend after completing Air Force Operational Readiness Inspection Published April 5, 2009 By 010409 NEW CASTLE, DELAWARE -- Delaware Air National Guard Headquarters, 166th Airlift Wing 2600 Spruance Drive New Castle, DE 19720-1615 Nearly 400 Airmen from Delaware Air Guard arrived home this weekend after completing Air Force Operational Readiness Inspection No media availability at this time; overall inspection grade to be released Friday, April 10. Photos will be made available to news media mid-week. Contact: Tech. Sgt. Benjamin Matwey Public Affairs Specialist, 166th Airlift Wing, Delaware Air National Guard, Cell 302-593-2126, or Office 302-323-3369 E-mail: Benjamin.Matwey@ang.af.mil Release No. 2009-04-001, April 5, 2009 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE NEW CASTLE, DELAWARE - The last of nearly 400 Airmen of the Delaware Air National Guard's 166th Airlift Wing arrived home safely today from Alpena, Michigan, completing an Air Force Operational Readiness Inspection. A few hundred Airmen returned home Saturday aboard several wing C-130 aircraft, and the last of several more C-130 aircraft missions landed about 2:30 p.m. today. Assisting the wing with transport were one C-17 aircraft from a Mississippi ANG unit, and one C-130 aircraft from a Missouri ANG unit. Hundreds of tons of cargo were also flown home, with dozens of Airmen working long shifts in New Castle to handle all of the incoming baggage and equipment. After arriving home aboard the last C-130 aircraft, 166th Airlift Wing Commander Col. Jonathan H. Groff said, "We completed all of our mission requirements, and received a very fair evaluation from the Air Force Inspector General team." On Friday, April 10, an Inspector General team from Headquarters, Air Mobility Command, will come to New Castle to brief leadership and the base as a whole on the results of the inspection, and provide the overall grade for the wing. "I believe the Airmen of the 166th Airlift Wing performed admirably. I expect the demonstration by our wing Airmen of their solid wartime training skills will be reflected in a positive grade this Friday," said Col. Groff. "During the wartime scenarios in Alpena, the weather brought us a day of rain, then snow and heavy winds, but overall we experienced better conditions than we anticipated." The inspection formally began Monday, March 30, when an advance team of several dozen Delaware ANG Airmen flew away aboard military aircraft to the Combat Readiness Training Center at the Alpena ANG Base in Alpena, Mich., followed by the main body flying to Alpena on Tuesday, March 31. The Delaware Air National Guard is a reserve component of the U.S. Air Force with 1,100 positions under command of the Governor of Delaware, or the President of the United States when mobilized. The Delaware ANG has been serving Delaware and the United States of America since 1946. This release is in the public domain, and any part may be used as written. - 30 -