Photo By Sgt. Rigo Cisneros | U.S. Army Soldiers from the 402nd Civil Affairs Battalion, Ft. Buchanan, Puerto Rico,...... read more read more
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FORT BUCHANAN, Puerto Rico – “Are you ok?” That is the first thing I was asked when I walked into the Emergency Operations Center at the 1st Mission Support Command on Fort Buchanan, said Army Reserve Staff Sgt. Aranldo Rivera, a Civil Affairs specialist with the 402nd Civil Affairs Battalion.
Rivera is one of the thousands of Soldiers that woke up to utter destruction after Hurricane Maria plummeted through every corner of the Island of Enchantment.
Two days after the hurricane made landfall, Rivera was approached by his neighbor and informed that the entire Army Reserve had been activated. A message was sent out via radio, the only means of communication on the island as the majority of cell phone towers were demolished by Maria.
“I packed a bag with a few days’ worth of clothes and headed to Fort Buchanan to report,” said Rivera. “They were worried about my home and my family. I also discovered I was the first one to report.”
Having already suffered a category 5 hurricane just two weeks prior, island residents were met with complete devastation after Maria and the need to provide relief support was clearly defined.
The 402nd CA BN was among the many units that struggled to get accountability of their personnel due to the lack of communications around the island. Once the 402nd had accountability of their Soldiers, they began their missions.
One role the 402nd has after disastrous events is conducting assessments of local municipalities. One of their first mission was to assist the Federal Emergency Management Agency with evaluating and assessing local hospitals and clinics.
“At first we were acting as liaisons,” said Rivera. “The first group from FEMA had almost no Spanish speakers and they were not familiar with the area.”
“Our Soldiers know these areas, they live in these communities and they speak the language,” said Lt. Col. Casares, 402nd CA BN commander. “This allowed them to work with FEMA and get them around as needed.”
Medical facilities had the added challenges of giving critical care to their patients while also accounting for their own personal and equipment.
“On day one, about 70% of the hospitals were functioning, but several had only one generator or one weeks’ worth of fuel left,” said Rivera. “There were also missing hospital personnel, which added to staffing shortages.”
That information was used to balance resources. Patients on life support were transferred to facilities with stable power. Several morgues were closed and the bodies were put into refrigerator trailers.
“Maria put a spotlight on the politics, the energy grid and the water supply,” said Rivera. “These are the things we need to fix to be ready to face the future.”
There were technical and administrative units from across Puerto Rico, drawing experience from years of military training to assist the populace of Puerto Rico. This relationship was extremely beneficial as it allowed for the sharing of staff, technical and strategic expertise and the administrative burden.
“We had one guy who came in off the street as a volunteer and he turned out to be one of our best people. You really see what some people are capable of in an emergency,” said Brig. Gen.
Dustin A. Shultz, 1st Mission Support Command, based at Fort Buchanan, Puerto Rico. The hurricane made clear the need for a coordinated approach that is predictable and doesn’t duplicate the efforts of different organizations.
“If we can’t show genuine concern for them [soldiers and civilians] and support them as required, then we have lost our purpose,” said Shultz.
While emergency personnel and supplies started arriving from the FEMA, Defense Support of Civil Authorities, U.S. Naval Operations and the U.S. Army were prepared to assist the devastated, there needed to be a coordinating entity for people and supplies.
“We coordinated between FEMA, DSCA, Seaport Authority, Army Reserve and the mayors, “said Capt. Christhie A. Ejarque, officer-in-charge of communications with the 402nd Civil Affairs Battalion stationed in Puerto Rico. When there wasn’t enough people available for an operation, we used our own soldiers, added the native of Guaynabo, Puerto Rico.
The recovery mission was broken down into sectors. The sector approach – the idea that a group of relevant agencies and others coordinate specific areas in an emergency response – is the result of military doctrine. The 402nd was assigned a sector that included the islands of Culebra and Vieques. Vieques historically has had a strained relationship with the US military due to the U.S. Naval operations there. The actions of the 402th went a long way to repair that relationship.
“We were greeted with open arms in Vieques,” said Ejarque. “People were calling out, ‘Thank you. Thank you for your service.’ You didn’t see that before in Puerto Rico.”
The majority of America’s Army Reserve assigned to Puerto Rico are the sons and daughters of Puerto Rico. Despite the fact that they too were affected by the hurricane, they demonstrated their commitment to their island and their country by donning their uniform and helping their communities.
“We’ve never had an emergency situation where we’ve built such good relationships.” said Shutlz
| Date Taken: | 09.22.2017 |
| Date Posted: | 02.06.2018 13:50 |
| Story ID: | 264917 |
| Location: | GUAYNABO, PR |
| Web Views: | 97 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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