Faux disaster, real reaction

Photo By Sgt. 1st Class Joel Quebec | Col. Marshall Dougherty, Army North Defense Coordinating Officer in Kansas City, Mo., addresses members of a joint military and civilian disaster response team during a certification exercise (CERTEX) held in Kansas City, Nov. 17-21, that tested their capabilities to coordinate response efforts for a series of catastrophic earthquakes and aftershocks.  

KANSAS CITY, MO, UNITED STATES

11.21.2014

Story by Patti Bielling 

U.S. Army North

KANSAS CITY, Mo. - The best time to prepare for a disaster is before it happens, which is the basis for most military training exercises. The answer to the question “What would we do if . . .” needs to be determined before the “if” occurs.

That’s why members of military and civilian entities periodically get together to conduct training exercises in various places around the nation just in case some catastrophic event occurs.

In this case, U.S. Army North (Fifth Army) held a Certification Exercise (CERTEX) from Nov. 17-21 in Kansas City, Missouri where the scenario involved serious earthquakes in Missouri. Multiple elements were involved, from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to the state equivalents and the Department of Defense in the form of the Armed Forces, both active and reserve components. Each FEMA region has a Defense Coordinating Officer, an active duty colonel assigned to Army North, with several other military personnel making up the rest of the Defense Coordinating Element. Whenever a new DCO takes the reins, he must go through a CERTEX within 90 days of assuming his position.

“The primary purpose of the CERTEX is to ensure that the DCO/E is trained and ready for disaster response operations providing Defense Support of Civil Authorities (DSCA)” said Col. Marshall Dougherty, DCO for FEMA Region VII which encompasses Iowa, Kansas, Missouri and Nebraska. “Additionally, the exercise is an excellent opportunity for all of our partners to experience and understand how the DCE integrates and coordinates with our partners and what our functions are for conducting DSCA operations in a catastrophic disaster.”

The U.S. Army North exercises are designed to stress the role and functions of the DCO/E in a complex disaster.

“What’s important about our training is that the DCO is in support of FEMA as they support the state,” said Mike Weimer. The DCOs are better trained when the interagency team players show up, he explained.

With all the agencies involved, it allows the consequence managers to identify all the seams in training and those things that are done well and share the best practices among the key leaders and other regions.

Weimer explained that each exercise goes well because the scenarios allow for a lot of agency interaction. Whatever decisions are made then affect the rest of the scenario.

“In these three days,” Weimer said, “he [the DCO] will get a good view of the good, the bad and the ugly when it comes to his interagency team.”

“Every exercise is good, regardless of what happens,” said Maj. Gen. Simeon G. Trombitas, Deputy Commanding General of U.S. Army North, (Fifth Army) at Fort Sam Houston, Texas. “If the DCO does super that’s wonderful and if he doesn’t do so well, we have identified those areas that need to be strengthened.”

The importance of such exercises was not lost on any of the participants.

“Exercises like this are extremely important,” said U.S. Coast Guard Commander Lynn Sletto of the District 8 Planning and Exercises in New Orleans, Louisiana. “Just like any other training whether you’re on a ship doing fire drills (or any other task), muscle memory is very, very true. The more you do these things, the more proficient you become.”

Sletto is also a Region VII Emergency Preparedness Liaison Officer and one of her training objectives was relationship-building, which was a regular theme throughout the week.

“You get to know the players,” she said. “You learn about their assets and what’s available.”

Through the CERTEX, Sletto says she developed a better understanding of the mission assignment process by which needed capabilities would be allocated and how the Coast Guard would fit into a response plan.

“What I see is people going through their process, their steps and procedures. If you at least get those down, you can respond appropriately to anything,” Sletto said.

These (exercises) are important because they practice a number of things, Trombitas said. “One is working with our fellow agencies and everyone comes to the realization that DOD is in support of the main federal agency and as such we begin to form relationships that allow us to work well in the future.”

Because a catastrophic event doesn’t always announce itself, all agencies must be ready to act without notice. The better prepared each agency is to respond benefits all the others that would be involved in such a response since each entity would understand the capabilities of their counterparts.

The exercise scenarios are tailored to the disasters common in their regions. A recent CERTEX in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, involved severe flooding and there will be another earthquake response exercise in Seattle in December.

• Date Taken: 11.21.2014
• Date Posted: 11.21.2014 14:03
• Story ID: 148497
• Location: KANSAS CITY, MO, US