Photo By Master Sgt. Andrew Jackson | Sgt. Rodolfo Acosta of the Hawaii Army National Guard demonstrates a search camera for...... read more read more
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SUBIC BAY, Philippines - Hawaii National Guard search and rescue experts are sharing from their wealth of knowledge of interagency operations, and the latest in rescue techniques as a part of the state partnership program with the Philippines.
The unique civil-military nature of the National Guard allows for active participation in a wide range of security cooperation activities including emergency management and disaster response. The Hawaii Guardsmen are honing their skills while sharing their experiences during the exchange.
The goal of the partnership is to improve military and civilian interoperability, while increasing the capabilities of partner nation to protect its citizens.
“It will be these units (from the Northern Luzon Command) who are getting this training. They will be called upon to support civilian authorities in response to a disaster," stated Maj. Manuel Carlos, Hawaii State Partnership Program Coordinator. “What the Hawaii National Guard brings to this exchange is the systems that we have like the Incident Command System that the United States uses with the national response framework. The Philippines is just starting to build that system.”
Hawaii and the Philippines have been in partnership since 2000, resulting in countless hours of training and an increased level of preparedness for both the Philippines and Hawaii.
“Hawaii’s CERF-P has been teaching urban search and rescue tactics, techniques, and procedures for a while now, and in each of the teachings we gain as much knowledge as we teach," said Maj. William Flynn, Hawaii CERF-P (Chemical biological radiological nuclear & high-yield Explosive Enhanced Response Force Package) operations officer. “It is always a learning process not for just the agencies we are training but for us as well, and it only increases our readiness.”
This is the second engagement between the Philippine disaster response agencies and the Hawaii National Guard in the past three months. The exchange focused on the advanced techniques of breaching, breaking, lifting and hauling and integration of efforts through an Incident Command System.
“We are integrating the Incident Command System as part of the exchange so that the Armed Forces of the Philippines would start getting used to responding in support of civil authorities,” added Maj. Carlos.
Hawaii and the Philippines share many geographical and cultural similarities. This provides opportunities to share from a common base of knowledge and a chance for some guardsmen to visit their heritage.
“A lot of the guys on our search and extraction team are form the Filipino heritage, and they have family here. To be able to do this not only keeps up their skill sets, but they are helping the Nation of the Philippines and their families. Knowing that if some does happen there are people who are trained and know what they are doing in their families time of need,” said Sgt. 1st Class Jason Kaaiakamanu, DECON NCO, Subject Matter Expert Exchange instructor.
While Hawaii has not experienced a major incident requiring search and rescue operations in a while the state is always preparing for the next event. This readiness posture help the Guardsmen teach the Philippine responders who experience many more disasters on an annual base the importance of staying ready.
“The Philippines is always having different disasters going on and they are always responding. For us in the state of Hawaii it is not a question of if it is going to happen but a matter of when it will happen and how big that event will be. Being able to be come here and teach and keep our skill-sets up is setting us up for success in Hawaii. We know we have people that are ready at any moment to respond and have the skill-sets that are necessary to respond to the disasters whether it is a tsunami or a hurricane or what ever it may be. When the time comes we are ready to go,” said Sgt. 1st Class Kaaiakamanu.
| Date Taken: | 11.29.2012 |
| Date Posted: | 11.29.2012 16:40 |
| Story ID: | 98488 |
| Location: | SUBIC BAY, PH |
| Web Views: | 144 |
| Downloads: | 3 |
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