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LOS ALAMITOS, Calif. - When the big one strikes – and experts tell us it’s only a matter of time – your local first responders won’t be enough. Even after they call in the National Guard and federal civilian agencies, people may be hurt, desperate and lacking necessities because of the chaos all around.
At times like those, the full weight of the U.S. military can be called upon, including active duty and Reserve forces aligned under a single commander. That officer – known as a dual-status commander – will oversee all military personnel from the various components that respond to the disaster.
“If something terrible happens, it’s good to know how much in the area of resources would be coming to the people of California,” said California Air National Guard Brig. Gen. Nate Reddicks, who served as the Southern California dual-status commander in recent earthquake-response exercise Ardent Sentry 2015. “In addition to civilian agencies and National Guard forces, active duty and Reserve troops may come to our aid, and my role as dual-status commander enables us to ensure proper coordination and maximize efficiency.”
“Unity of effort” was a commonly heard refrain at Ardent Sentry, which ran May 11-15, and it showed in the results. Col. John Cushman, deputy director for Reserve forces at North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) and U.S. Northern Command (NORTHCOM), said the coordination between NORAD/NORTHCOM and the California National Guard was “perfect” during Ardent Sentry.
He noted that in 2 ½ years in his current position at NORAD/NORTHCOM, he has been to California more than a dozen times for exercises and planning, and these types of drills are crucial for ensuring a seamless response in a real-world emergency.
“We need to have a trusted partnership when we come to help,” said Cushman, who served as Southern California’s deputy commander during Ardent Sentry. “Establishing relationships [before disaster strikes] is critically important because it helps everybody know, ‘I remember and trust you, and we know how to support one another.’”
Ardent Sentry is an annual exercise designed by NORAD/NORTHCOM to test the integration of its forces with federal, state and local emergency responders, but Ardent Sentry is not a one-sided exchange.
“NORTHCOM brought a lot to the table,” said Sgt. 1st Class Jessica Velasco, who served as noncommissioned officer in charge of intelligence for the Cal Guard’s 40th Infantry Division during the exercise. “They’ve done this many times, and their knowledge, guidance and feedback helped in a lot of ways.
“No amount of preparation will [prevent] the catastrophic effects of an event like this, but [Ardent Sentry] will put Soldiers in a better position to respond and help the people of California.”
Ardent Sentry was a “command post exercise,” with notional troop movements all over the state coordinated by units at the Cal Guard’s Joint Force Headquarters in Sacramento and its Joint Forces Training Base Los Alamitos in Orange County. Their response to the fictional 7.8-magnitude earthquake in Southern California included the call-up of nearly 13,000 Cal Guard members, with neighboring states prepared to provide an additional 3,000 Guard troops within 24 hours.
Notional Cal Guard Soldiers manned more than 100 traffic-control points on the exercise’s major roadways, and they provided security at Southern California ports and at 25 distribution points where FEMA was handing out food and water. Additionally, 19 Cal Guard helicopters were notionally put into action to conduct search-and-rescue missions and extract survivors from the rubble.
FEMA was just one of several civilian agencies working hand-in-hand with military responders during Ardent Sentry. As is the case in any emergency in California, the Governor’s Office of Emergency Services (Cal OES) took the lead.
“Cal OES continues to work with our local, state, federal, private sector and nonprofit partners to make sure every possible resource is committed to address [survivors’] needs,” Lee Dorey of Cal OES told reporters at a mock press conference during Ardent Sentry. “All of those organizations … are with us side-by-side working together closely to ensure that we’re safely and securely addressing all the needs of those who were impacted.”
Reddicks noted that the Ardent Sentry scenario was designed to test and challenge the participating military and civilian agencies, but nothing can truly simulate the real thing.
“At one point in the exercise, we had 72,000 people unaccounted for,” he said. “That’s the kind of thing that fits neatly on a piece of paper, but in a real-life situation, it’s hard to imagine how you get your mind around it. So that just makes it even more important that we are prepared to execute when the need arises, and we need to continue practicing.”
| Date Taken: | 05.18.2015 |
| Date Posted: | 05.19.2015 17:43 |
| Story ID: | 163724 |
| Location: | LOS ALAMITOS, CA, US |
| Web Views: | 258 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, Ardent Sentry builds unity of effort in emergency response: Earthquake scenario tests Cal Guard, active and reserve components and civilian agencies, by Brandon Honig, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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