Photo By Master Sgt. Daniel Griego | In this image released by the Texas Military Forces, Guardsmen prepare to engage the...... read more read more
CAMP GRUBER, Okla. -- Former American Red Cross Director Judy White once said, “Preparedness is 90 percent of a disaster. The more prepared you are, the more likely that your response is going to be smoother and less costly and save more lives.”
For the Guardsmen of FEMA Region VI and beyond, preparedness is the watchword of emergency response and the driving force behind an ever-evolving system of interagency cooperation. Operation Sooner Response, a joint training mission conducted, Nov. 12-18, across five sites in Oklahoma, built and capitalized on strong working relationships by bringing together six states for a series of natural disaster and terrorist incident exercises.
“The end state,” said Army Brig. Gen. Walter Fountain, director of Sooner Response, “is to effectively leverage all the capability, all the agencies, all the resources that we have within the state, region and the nation to address a significant natural event that has become more complicated by terrorist activity.”
Enhancing the participants’ collective capability means challenging the command and control across the approximately 20,000 square miles that separate the different sites. To achieve success, units needed to execute coordinated and constant communication throughout all levels of leadership.
“I think doing a larger exercise like this,” said Air Force Maj. Rustin Wonn, Oklahoma Homeland Security Plans Officer, “with multiple states and different active duty units and the challenges that presents is helping us to redefine how we’re going to move forward in domestic operations.”
Oklahoma, Texas, Nevada, New Mexico, Louisiana and Georgia all participated in Sooner Response by contributing their respective civil support teams. These teams make up the military first responders able to react to a natural disaster or terrorist incident within one hour of impact with specialized containment capabilities.
“It’s great to be working with fellow CSTs in a joint exercise,” said Army Capt. Steve Schippers, deputy operations officer for Joint Task Force 71. “This helps us improve our responsiveness within FEMA Region VI and build relationships with our neighboring counterparts. Exercises like this will save lives down the line.”
Also on site were civil authorities such as the Oklahoma State Health Department, Federal Emergency Management Agency and local police departments.
“The state health department has and manages the public health and the medical side of any type of response,” said Shelly Aimes, Oklahoma State Health Department liaison to Sooner Response. “We have the contacts with the local hospitals and long term care facilities.”
In addition to supporting the training event with the 6th Civil Support Team, Texas’ Joint Task Force 71 also contributed brigade personnel to demonstrate the capacity and resourcefulness of the Defense Connect Online communication hub.
“We’re able to get real-time information across to Texas Task Force 1,” said Army Sgt. Jahsen Dilger, a JTF 71 battle NCO. “Anything that’s going on, whether it be just like the Waxahachie fire, we were tracking in real time.”
The JTF 71 successfully employed the DCO’s common operating picture during its support of Super Bowl LXV and the external evaluation of its Homeland Response Force in October. The COP allows all connected users to see the same real-time updates across any distance, eliminated communication delays and guaranteeing a uniform situational awareness.
“That is what its greatest benefit is,” said Dilger, “getting that information to the people who need it the fastest way possible.”
The success of this operation highlights the commitment shared by civil authorities and military elements to protect and serve the community with swift and coordinated responses.
“When you build that relationship prior to that true incident,” said Aimes. “Then you know what I can bring to the table, we know what you can bring to the table and it’s a lot better than when you’re in the middle of chaos trying to figure out who can do what.”
| Date Taken: | 11.15.2011 |
| Date Posted: | 11.17.2011 18:20 |
| Story ID: | 80199 |
| Location: | CAMP GRUBER, OK, US |
| Web Views: | 137 |
| Downloads: | 2 |
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