The Incident, Awareness and Assessment (IAA) process integrates the planning and execution of information management capabilities and situational awareness tools to provide predictive and timely assessments on the conditions surrounding a domestic disaster scenario. IAA assists authorities in responding to disasters in saving lives, mitigating suffering, minimizing serious property damage, and protecting vital infrastructure. All IAA capabilities are legally employed in accordance with Federal policies on Intelligence Oversight and Handling of U.S. person information.
The New Mexico Air National Guard received requests to provide IAA support to Texas post Hurricane Harvey and the team quickly engaged to provide this support. 150th Communications Flight specialists setup an area to process high volumes of data, and IAA analysts started to process requests from Texas. In concert with eight other National Guard units, the effort was coordinated by liaisons at Texas Emergency Operations Center. The N.M. IAA analysts received requests to provide the status of levies, airports, HAZMAT facilities, as well as identifying persons in distress. Due to the extensive training, the IAA analysts were able to fuse data from satellite imagery, RC-26, Civil Air Patrol, and other sources to produce IAA products.
The federal mission of the 250th is geospatial analysis, and this group of airmen were able to quickly apply the skills they trained for. One of the first tasks was to process RC-26 feeds of a HAZMAT facility. A New Mexico Airman identified burning trailers in the area and notified local responders.
While their training is initially set for the battlefield, it proved itself effective in the relief efforts in Texas. For many members this mission was on-the-job training, and it let these members know they can help people in their own part of the world.
Hurricane Harvey caused great damage to the state of Texas but it did not hamper the spirit of this country. It brought people together for the greater good. This is what the military does around the world and being able to help out our own in a time of crisis is what we do at our finest. This is no different for the members assigned to this task.
| Date Taken: | 09.01.2017 |
| Date Posted: | 09.20.2017 14:27 |
| Story ID: | 248973 |
| Location: | KIRTLAND AFB, NM, US |
| Web Views: | 42 |
| Downloads: | 1 |
This work, 250IS Lends a Hand during Hurricane Harvey, by MSgt Paula Aragon, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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