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MARINE CORPS BASE CAMP LEJEUNE, N.C. - Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune, Marine Corps Air Station New River and tenant commands kicked off the 2014 Camp Lejeune, New River Annual Local Destructive Weather Exercise, June 23-25.
The exercise, held every year at the beginning of hurricane season, throws local installations into a scenario in which they respond to a destructive weather situation in order to assess their state of readiness.
This year’s scenario was a category three hurricane named Arthur.
The exercise began at 8 a.m. on June 23 as an advisory about Hurricane Arthur. Key personnel aboard Camp Lejeune and MCAS New River gathered at their respective emergency operation centers and set to work.
By 1 p.m., the installations moved into tropical cyclone condition four.
The storm conditions, ranging from five to one, one being the most serious, indicate the distance the storm is from a given location. During condition four, Hurricane Arthur was hypothetically 72 hours out.
At this point, as the storm can still veer off in a different direction, EOC personnel were conducting initial tasks such as updating points of contact, key rosters and making sure the appropriate resources are available, said Kert Lang, the MCAS New River emergency operations manager.
The major muscle movement of the exercise begins during condition three, when the storm is 48 hours out, Lang said.
“All the assets that are going to come to us start to get laid in and the shelter teams start setting up,” he said. “It’s an accountability challenge.”
EOC personnel must track resources, buildings, vehicles, as well as establish communication.
II Marine Expeditionary Force provided a large percentage of the manpower and vehicles for Camp Lejeune, while Marine Aviation Support Squadron 272 heavily supported MCAS New River.
The final day of the exercise ushered in conditions two and one, respectively.
During condition one, in a real-life situation, the storm would impact the installation, Lang said.
While all five conditions had been run through, there was still one crucial phase of the exercise left – recovery.
During the recovery phase, personnel in charge assess what damage has been done to the installations and repair as necessary.
Until the “all clear” signal is given, those taking refuge from the storm should not venture out, Lang said.
“During recovery, even though the skies may be blue and the winds might not be blowing, there are still hazards,” he said.
Once all hazards are assessed and corrected, installations send out a mass notification that it is safe to resume normal activity.
Installation personnel receive these notifications via phone, text message or e-mail.
Once the exercise was completed, participants met once again in the EOC to assess what went well and what could be done better.
“It was a great exercise,” Lang said. “But we are going to implement some changes after this to improve.”
While there were some challenges to overcome throughout the process, Lang said the level of communication between exercise participants was excellent, resulting in great continuity of operations.
Eric Carlson, Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune Installation Emergency Manager, said while personnel initially seemed a bit rusty from a year’s break from the last exercise, that everyone enthusiastically jumped back into the training and good lessons were learned.
“We are on the right track should destructive weather come,” Carlson said.
In the event extreme weather or another emergency effecting installation procedures occur, service members and civilians in the area can stay up-to-date on the latest info by tuning in to AM 1630.
Updates are also posted to Camp Lejeune and MCAS New River’s Facebook pages.
A third means of receiving information is by calling 451-1717. This line is an automated system for both Camp Lejeune and MCAS New River providing information on storm systems, shelters, reporting for work and the current condition of the installation.
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| Date Taken: | 07.03.2014 |
| Date Posted: | 07.08.2014 15:40 |
| Story ID: | 135532 |
| Location: | MARINE CORPS BASE CAMP LEJEUNE, NC, US |
| Web Views: | 107 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, Camp Lejeune, MCAS New River prepare for hurricane season, conduct destructive weather exercises, by Sgt Mary Carmona, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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