Photo By Master Sgt. Paul Rider | Tech. Sgt. Daniel Sevigny, a geospatial intelligence analyst for the Washington Air...... read more read more
Subscribe
CAMP MURRAY, Wash.--The Washington Air National Guard's 194th Intelligence Squadron is taking part in the response to Hurricane Laura, providing analysis of unclassified satellite imagery and other open source information in support of the State of Louisiana. Using its Unclassified Processing Assessment and Dissemination (UPAD) system, the Camp Murray-based squadron provides damage assessments to state and local authorities in Louisiana as they deal with the aftermath of the hurricane. The UPAD mission allows members of the 194th IS to support domestic operations outside of the unit's federal geospatial targeting mission.
"We're reviewing imagery provided by the Civil Air Patrol to provide insight and understanding to the extent of the damage to areas affected by Hurricane Laura," said Tech. Sgt. Daniel Sevigny, a geospatial intelligence analyst for the 194th IS who is serving as a UPAD analyst during the hurricane response. Working 10-hour days, Sevigny reports to Camp Murray each morning and receives requests for information from the Louisiana National Guard, he said. He assesses damage to public facilities, utilities, neighborhoods, and more. "It's difficult to gauge the extent of the damage without the publicly accessible information," said Sevigny.
The 194th IS UPAD is focused on assessing damage to inland communities, said Capt. Russell Waterman, the 194th IS UPAD mission officer in charge. According to Waterman, the intelligence squadron got involved with the Hurricane Laura response about a week and a half after the hurricane made landfall, after damage assessments involving coastal areas were already underway. "We came in when Louisiana asked for support for some of their parishes that were more inland to assess the damage to the townships," said Waterman. The 194th IS is able to provide real-time information that is useful to local authorities, all remotely from a work center on Camp Murray, said Waterman. "We're at home station, and everything we do can be done right from our unit," he said.
When the call came in from the State of Louisiana, Sevigny volunteered. A geospatial intelligence analyst for 17 years, Sevigny said that he joined the Washington Air National Guard in 2009 on the recommendation of a former active duty Air Force supervisor. Outside of the Guard, Sevigny is an open source intelligence analyst for the U.S. Army I Corps, based at Joint Base Lewis-McChord. Sevigny said that he is able to bring his military and civilian experience to the UPAD work. "it's combining two of those fields here in UPAD: utilizing unclassified imagery and publicly available resources to develop an understanding of public utilities in affected areas, and using my talents as an imagery analyst to determine the level of damage and the situations and conditions in affected areas," said Sevigny.
The 194th IS first used its UPAD capability in support of the State of Georgia following Hurricane Michael in 2018, according to Waterman. While 194th IS members previously served in the UPAD mission on Title 32 federal orders as well as Active Guard Reserve status, today's UPAD mission is being conducted on State Active Duty status for the first time, said Waterman.
UPAD capabilities are found in Air National Guard units throughout the country, according to Waterman, but the 194th IS has the sole UPAD in the Washington Air National Guard, he said.
| Date Taken: | 09.13.2020 |
| Date Posted: | 10.01.2020 14:24 |
| Story ID: | 379088 |
| Location: | CAMP MURRAY, US |
| Web Views: | 104 |
| Downloads: | 1 |
This work, Washington Air Guard helps Louisiana in Hurricane Laura response, by Capt. Hans Zeiger, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
No keywords found.
LEAVE A COMMENT