Lt. Col. Todd Schmidt, 4th Battalion, 3rd Air Defense Artillery commander, awards battalion coins to evaluators of the battalion's recent Standardized Patriot Evaluation and Assessment Reporting. The evaluation determined the battalion is mission rea...

FORT SILL, Okla. -- Recently, 4th Battalion, 3rd Air Defense Artillery completed a Standardized Patriot Evaluation and Assessment Reporting (SPEAR) which evaluates the unit's mission readiness to assume a contingency expeditionary force (CEF) mission later this year.

SPEAR is designed to test and evaluate the unit's ability to assume the vital mission of air defense through computer simulation and real-time reporting. The evaluation tasks Patriot missile crews with multiple engagement air battle scenarios requiring crews to make critical engagement decisions.

"SPEAR's are designed to ensure units are accurately reporting their combat readiness with relation to Patriot missile gunnery," said Sgt. 1st Class Rusty Bailey, 31st ADA Brigade, air defense master evaluator." This reporting information ensures Patriot crews are operating at the highest readiness level possible."

To ensure the crews are given a fair and unbiased evaluation, evaluators from other brigades and the staff within 32nd Army Air and Missile Defense Command were there to evaluate the crews.

"The purpose of this operation is to support 4-3 ADA with intense air and missile defense training to provide an external assessment of the 4-3 ADA gunnery training program," said Chief Warrant Officer 4 Anson Seebeck, 31st ADA Brigade air missile defense system technician.

The evaluators administered a written test and then conducted air battle management assessments of the battalion's fire direction center and battery fire control platoon. Using outside evaluators also gave units a chance to exercise their joint kill chain as they would in theater.

"We assessed 94 percent which is phenomenal; it was a good experience for us to have external evaluators from every brigade in 32nd AAMDC come to give us feedback," said Chief Warrant Officer 3 Matthew Keechi, 4-3rd ADA electronic missile maintenance officer. "SPEARs are a validation of our crews, they ensure know what they are doing when fighting an air battle, and they enable confidence and growth in crews to make those quick decisions which can save lives."

4-3rd ADA will assume the CEF mission later this year and be part of a global response force that respond and deploy within 72 hours.