Photo By Master Sgt. Joseph Harwood | Soldiers of the Ohio Homeland Response Force (HRF) Search and Extraction team, perform...... read more read more
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COLUMBUS, Ohio- As the nation prepared for the 59th Presidential Inauguration during a heightened security threat, a dedicated group of National Guard members answered the call to be always ready and always there.
The Ohio National Guard Homeland Response Force (HRF) was mobilized for the first time in its nearly 10-year existence to a location in the area surrounding Washington D.C. on Jan. 16, 2021, after being activated by Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine to support the existing forces in that area.
The HRF Region Five based in Columbus, Ohio supports the Federal Emergency Management Agency Region Five, and specializes in saving lives and reducing human suffering during a natural, man-made, or terrorist incident in the United States. The HRF consists of decontamination, search and extraction, medical triage, and command and control capabilities to support civil authorities. When directed by the secretary of Defense, coordinated by the chief of the National Guard Bureau, and upon the consent of the governor during major or catastrophic Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear (CBRN) incidents, the HRF can deploy within six hours.
In this historic mobilization, they were called to supplement FEMA Region Three should any large-scale incident occur in the D.C. area.
“The Homeland Response Force mission to assist and support civilian authorities is a critical mission. We provide specialized skills and teams that enhance their existing capabilities.” Col. Kevin W. Lochtefeld, HRF Region Five commander said, “The HRF Region Five is an extremely professional organization. This was the first deployment of HRF Region Five and we responded outside of our assigned region. I’m honored to serve and deploy with these dedicated Soldiers and Airmen that responded when called to support the inauguration. I’m very proud of what we learned and what we accomplished on this mission.”
While an historic number of National Guard members from Ohio and across the country supported a safe transition of power in the nations’ capitol, only a select few prepare for the unknown like the HRF.
Maj. Jonathan Shaw, Operations Officer in Charge of HRF Region Five, has ten years’ experience with the HRF and spoke how valuable each activation is to their training.
“Every time you train with the HRF you train to a standard.” Shaw continued, “The way you do that is you create standard operating procedures (SOP) so that when you get activated you can actually test those SOP’s from the training standard and expose them for what they are. Then after the real-world event we can go back and refine those SOP’s and train again so we’ll be better the next time we’re activated.”
Command Sgt. Major William Adams, senior enlisted advisor, related the mission of the HRF with the mission of the Ohio National Guard.
“Our mission is synonymous with the National Guard, when called we respond with ready units.” Adams added, “I could not be any prouder of our Soldiers, our Airmen, their families and their employers. The teamwork that’s involved with this activation and mobilization. It takes a team. From the short notification, to the assembly and response time to the region, we could not do it without the total team. Safety of the transfer of power for the inauguration could not be had without all of that support.”
The 21st century tragedies of 9/11, Hurricane Katrina and the Deepwater Horizon oil spill highlighted the importance of being proactive in preparation and efficient and effective in response. The HRF is designed to improve National Guard mobilization methods and to continue improving as they evolve and expand relating to Homeland Defense.
Lt. Col. David Mason Jr., deputy commander of HRF Region Five, was one of the first members of the HRF and has experience in those events that revealed the need for the HRF.
“This a great opportunity to culminate all of the training we’ve had to get us to this point. I feel fortunate to be standing here as someone who watched us become one of the first validated and now to see us respond to the first activation,” Mason added, “Unfortunately, we never want to put our training to use, but we were ready and we came here ready to do whatever we needed to do.”
While the HRF did not have to respond to any crisis this activation, the value of their efforts is not lost as we are all safer and stronger today expanding their experience in real world response.
Spc. Rachael Price with the HRF Search and Extraction team, is a traditional National Guard soldier who typically serves one weekend a month. The rest of the time, she teaches high school math to ninth and tenth graders in Cincinnati Public Schools.
“I was teaching an online class when I got the call, I was told we’d be leaving the very next day. It was near the end of the day and I didn’t get a chance to talk to [the students], but I left them a note with the substitute. I’ve gotten a few messages from them telling me to be safe and they’re excited for when I get to come back!”
Price explained that despite not having to respond to any incident while activated, the experience felt different than any of her previous training.
“The speed of it felt different. Making sure we had everything that we needed before heading out because you knew this could be the real deal. I definitely feel like its left us better off to respond to future incidents—we know what to expect. Since we didn’t have to respond we got to do some training, to refresh and go deeper.”
The entire enterprise of response is critical to the nation's readiness as we enter the 21st century's third decade and prepare for unknown but certainly challenging horizons.
| Date Taken: | 01.23.2021 |
| Date Posted: | 01.26.2021 19:12 |
| Story ID: | 387467 |
| Location: | OH, US |
| Web Views: | 171 |
| Downloads: | 1 |
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