Photo By Staff Sgt. Connie Jones | Maj. J. Andrew Birmingham, the operations officer at 66th Troop Command, discusses...... read more read more
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66th Troop Command conducted a hurricane exercise on July 9, 2016, at Camp Shelby, Miss., to prepare for the 2016 hurricane season, which began June 1.
People don’t wait for natural disasters to happen. Preparation and planning can determine whether a response is successful or becomes mired in inefficiency. The unit has been tasked with hurricane response this year.
“This is a good opportunity for this command to exercise all the different staff functions,” said Maj. J. Andrew Birmingham, operations officer. “The first time you respond to a to a hurricane doesn’t need to be when a hurricane hits. Practice makes perfect. We train for everything.”
In the event of a hurricane, the task force is responsible for the integration and coordination of MSNG, state and federal agencies.
A part of the training is practicing the relocation of the operations center to another area to begin notifying units of the emergency, said Lt. Col. Jeff Files, 66th TC’s chief of staff.
“We are doing a practice move. If the hurricane or a natural disaster was to get bad enough to cause us to move from Jackson to another area, we would need to set up our operation,” he said.
Speed is essential.
“We verified our roster, we initiated movement with a time to be at Camp Shelby and occupied the building we’re currently in and started setting up our operations,” Birmingham said.
After the units have been notified, he said the operations team begins allocating missions to units.
These missions are not just something that has to get done; protecting Mississippi from disasters such as hurricanes is personal.
“With the Guard, what’s unique is these are our hometown units. We grew up here, we live here,” Files said. “It’s different when it’s not just a job; it’s my home that I’m defending.”
(Photo and story by Army Sgt. Connie Jones, 102d Public Affairs Detachment/Released)
| Date Taken: | 07.10.2016 |
| Date Posted: | 07.10.2016 16:47 |
| Story ID: | 203529 |
| Location: | CAMP SHELBY, MS, US |
| Hometown: | BRANDON, MS, US |
| Hometown: | MADISON, MS, US |
| Web Views: | 59 |
| Downloads: | 1 |
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