Exercise at Wright-Patterson prepares for severe weather season Published March 12, 2009 By Cason Soat 88 Air Base Wing Public Affairs WRIGHT-PATTERSON AIR FORCE BASE, Ohio -- The installation exercise office here will conduct a quarterly base exercise from Mar. 25-27. The exercise gets its name 'Strong Winds '09', due to the vulnerabilities of the season. According to Carmen Riches, base chief of exercises, this quarterly exercise will give our Wright-Patterson personnel the opportunity to prepare for a natural disaster situation as well as other potential emergency responses. Most base operations will continue as scheduled during this time with minimal disruptions, but personnel should expect tightened security and plan ahead for possible delays throughout the installation. According to Riches, the exercise should not have a significant impact on the areas surrounding the base. However, people may see an increase in emergency operations on and around the base, such as emergency response vehicles with lights flash and base speakers making announcements. Temporary gate back-up and delays should be expected. All activities will be standard exercise procedure and should not cause alarm. "Practicing emergencies gives us the time to learn and become efficient so when we have to do the real thing, it is an automatic response," said Riches. "By practicing, we get the opportunity to teach ourselves to think strategically versus just correcting the immediate problem."