Photo By Capt. Chad Franks | 180710-A-JB153-0005 JOINT BASE PEARL HARBOR-HICKAM, Hawaii (July 16, 2018) Sgt. Maj....... read more read more
Subscribe
JOINT BASE PEARL HARBOR-HICKAM, Hawaii – More than 70 personnel from the U.S. Army Reserve 351st Civil Affairs Command (CACOM), from Mountain View, California, participated in a humanitarian assistance and disaster relief exercise on base June 27 to July 17 as part of the Rim of the Pacific exercise.
During the scenario, the 351st CACOM, part of the Army’s Civil Affairs responded to a fictional earthquake and tsunami to prepare the team for potential real-world events.
The team set up tents, filled hundreds of sand bags to surround the tents, created generator spill kits, installed air conditioners, and coordinated numerous other support items to build the complex HADR camp on the Ford Island area of the base.
U.S. Army civil affairs personnel work with civilian authorities to mitigate the impact of military operations. During RIMPAC, the 351st CACOM established a Civil Military Operations Center (CMOC) at which Soldiers fielded simulated requests for assistance in a disaster scenario.
The CMOC, led by U.S. Army Col. John E. Burick, was manned by each section of the 351st CACOM as well as a group of Functional Specialty Teams. The CMOC continuously assessed the changing scenario situation and evaluated when infrastructure, governance, and distribution networks had stabilized enough to return control back to the host nation.
"I believe the 351 CACOM has cracked the code on standing-up a functioning CMOC to support theatre-level civil affairs operations," said Burick. "By attaching a Functional Specialty Team of experts in infrastructure, public health, rule of law, governance, education, and economic development, the 351 CMOC can qualitatively and quantitatively assess and evaluate lines of operations to provide prioritized civil affairs operations in any disaster area and/or battlespace to the combatant commander."
One of the most important sections of the CMOC is the Civil Information Management (CIM) cell. This cell is responsible for taking information from the partners on the ground and teams in the CMOC to build a common operating picture (COP) about the current situation.
“Some people refer to us [the CIM Team] as nerds because of the massive amount of information we need to process and filter in order to produce an accurate product,” said U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Rae Pineda, a member of the CIM team.
The information that helps the CMOC evaluate the ever-changing situation comes from the Functional Specialty Team, which undertakes short evaluation missions on the ground. The different teams, commanded by U.S. Army Lt. Col. Scott Moore, are public health, infrastructure, economic stability, rule of law, governance, and public education.
U.S. Army Col. Michael Seguin led the Civil Affairs Section in the Joint Operations Center for the HADR exercise, and reported to the exercise commander, Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force Rear Adm. Hideyuki Oban, vice commander, combined task force. Seguin said working with counterparts from other nations was extremely valuable.
“This international collaboration fosters trust while working under the HADR Combined Joint Task Force commander,” said Sequin. “The training at RIMPAC by the 351 CACOM has made the CMOC [and] FxSP personnel extremely well positioned to coordinate relief efforts in any environment when called upon to do so.”
Various teams evaluated the CACOM’s performance during the exercise, including its ability to conduct CMOC operations, conduct civil information management, and support foreign humanitarian assistance.
“The Public Health Team assessed the USNS Mercy for patient bed and treatment facilities, and the Tripler Medical Center Wing D for damage due to the earthquake as well as patient safety and the resources available,” said U.S. Army Col. Susan Landeros, the Public Health Team’s officer in charge.
The Infrastructure team worked with German and Australian navy members to assess the capabilities of the seaport distribution center and liaised with the U.S. Navy Underwater Construction Team 2 to assess its methods for inspecting a pier for possible (simulated) structural damage. The team also went out with the coalition infrastructure support team to assess the simulated debris in the Oyster Bay Channel to develop methods to reopen a route to the piers of Oyster Bay for supply vessels.
The U.S. Army worked together with the U.S. Navy to restore the simulated host nation to near pre-disaster conditions.
“I cannot say enough about our U.S. Navy partners, who exemplified the RIMPAC motto, “Capable, Adaptive, Partners,” said U.S. Army Sgt. Maj. John Candias. “Their staff and Seabee [Navy civil engineers] construction experts provided our unit with an array of equipment and logistical support from generators to concertina wire, gloves, and sand bags.”
Overall, the HADR exercise gave participants valuable experience in dealing with the challenges presented during a disaster and helping a community recover.
Twenty-five nations, 46 ships, five submarines, and about 200 aircraft and 25,000 personnel are participating in RIMPAC from June 27 to Aug. 2 in and around the Hawaiian Islands and Southern California. The world’s largest international maritime exercise, RIMPAC provides a unique training opportunity while fostering and sustaining cooperative relationships among participants critical to ensuring the safety of sea lanes and the security of the world’s oceans. RIMPAC 2018 is the 26th exercise in the series that began in 1971.
| Date Taken: | 07.17.2018 |
| Date Posted: | 07.21.2018 23:45 |
| Story ID: | 285217 |
| Location: | JOINT BASE PEARL HARBOR-HICKAM, HI, US |
| Web Views: | 570 |
| Downloads: | 1 |
This work, Army 351st Civil Affairs Command Participates in HADR Exercise during RIMPAC 2018, by SSG Robert Van Tuinen, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
No keywords found.
LEAVE A COMMENT