Base transitions to standardized emergency response system Published Feb. 16, 2007 By Senior Airman J. Paul Croxon 319th Air Refueling Wing Public Affairs GRAND FORKS AIR FORCE BASE, N.D. -- By 2009, all Air Force installations will respond to emergencies, both during peacetime and wartime, using the same system civilian agencies implemented more than 30 years ago. Fortunately, the base's close ties with the local community will expedite the transition and make it easier. Under the Air Force Incident Management System, the wing will use the same command and control structure the Federal Emergency Management Agency and all other federal, state, and local agencies use. Known as the Incident Command System, it provides a consistent framework for incident management at all jurisdictional levels, regardless of the cause, size, or complexity of the incident. "During the response to Hurricane Katrina, FEMA requested assistance from the Department of Defense without knowing that State National Guard forces had already deployed to fill the same needs." said Mr. Harold James, 319th Civil Engineer, Deputy Chief of Readiness. "Full implementation of the National Response Plan and implementation on AFIMS will keep these kinds of problems from occurring in the future." This January, addressing the lessons learned from Katrina and other national emergencies, the Air Force Chief of Staff, Gen. T. Michael Moseley, sent a memo mandating initial implementation of the Air Force Incident Management System by December 2007 with final capability by December 2009. "The memo established a timeline for implementation, and publication of Air Force Instruction 10-2501, "Air Force Emergency Management Program Planning and Operations" started the clock", stated Mr. James. "By Feb. 15, all DCG, crisis action team, unit control center representatives and other emergency responders must complete an online Emergency Response Operations training course." In addition to this training, an emergency response plan must be drafted by 22 April and implementing checklist created 30 days later. What does this mean to the base? Starting this summer a tabletop exercise utilizing AFIMS will occur with a field-training exercise to following a few weeks later. "It will be the first exercise using ICS but the base has experienced ICS long before this," said Mr. James. According to Mr. James, the 500-year flood of 1997 was one of the first times he witnessed ICS in action. "Although we were not organized under the incident management system on base," he said, "We provided an Air Force liaison to the EOC in Grand Forks and became a part of their ICS system. He was responsible for relaying critical information between the town and wing leadership. The real benefit of this arrangement was enhanced communications and a better understanding of each others capabilities. This really cemented our relationship with the local authorities." Since the real-world test from the flood, the base and the local community have participated in each other's exercises on a routine basis. The zeal of this joint training mindset has been so great that exercises have been forced to expand their size during the planning and response stages. "A few years ago we had an off-base aircraft mishap exercise in Hatton, N.D., where we were expecting 100 local volunteer responders," said Mr. James. "Once the exercise was over, more than 250 participated. It still impresses me that so many individuals would take time away from their day-to-day jobs to support the base and our response mission.." Even though an aggressive timeline has been set by the Air Force and DoD, the wing is far ahead of the timeline already. "We still have hurdles to jump, but we're miles ahead of the Air Force timeline," noted Mr. James. "The Air Force mandated emergency response plan is due April 22nd but we should have the draft out to commanders by mid-March and our office will be able to provide response checklists about the same time."