SCHOFIELD BARRACKS, Hawaii – The Center for Excellence in Disaster Management and Humanitarian Assistance held a Humanitarian Assistance Response Training (HART) course for more than 30 soldiers from the 25th Infantry Division on Schofield Barracks Sept. 3-4.
The participants of the course primarily consisted of soldiers assigned to 25th ID’s primary and secondary Humanitarian Assistance Survey Teams, the first U.S. soldiers on the ground when American disaster or humanitarian support is requested by a nation. Comprised of personnel from numerous specialties, including engineers, communications specialists and logistics personnel, the team's primary mission is to conduct assessments on infrastructure, particularly the ports, as well as on health and medical capabilities.
“I have a team of skilled experts in their field … however, it became evident that they have limited exposure to [humanitarian assistance and disaster response],” said Lt. Col. Matt Marbella, assistant chief of staff of civil affairs (G9) for the 25th Infantry Division. The HART course “establishes a baseline of knowledge for personnel who will have to perform their duties in a diverse and changing disaster environment.”
The HART course was created to provide professional development to U.S. military personnel on civil-military coordination in disaster response environments.
“It’s units like the survey team that the HART course is tailored to,” said John Miller, training and education manager for CFE-DMHA. “Military personnel that will interact with the international community, including nongovernmental organizations, and that will need to provide support to the host government and these organizations as smoothly and effectively as possible.”
Additional HART courses are scheduled for later this year in Reno, Nevada, Okinawa, Japan and Ontario, Canada.