Homestead pioneers emergency communications kits, joint exercise

by Senior Airman Jaimi L. Upthegrove
482nd Fighter Wing Public Affairs

11/3/2014 - HOMESTEAD AIR RESERVE BASE, Fla.  -- The 482nd Communications Squadron here pioneered a joint base recovery exercise designed to shape the way  communications squadrons throughout the Air Force Reserve respond during emergencies.

"We're really proud to be the first base to plan and hold a joint base recovery exercise. We want to show AFRC that we're serious about how we operate this program," said Maj. Michael Wells, 482nd CS commander.

Five Air Force Reserve units from across the nation came here Oct. 18-26 to practice setting up Joint Incident Site Communications Capability kits and develop kit operating instructions.

"We all came together as a way to improve our knowledge and abilities for when we're called to deploy in support of a natural disaster," said Capt. Ryan Liss, 482nd CS cyber transport systems officer in charge here. "This exercise is about learning from one another so we can demonstrate air superiority during outages."

Each kit is catered to the needs of the base and local area, but in essence each kit contains telephones, land mobile radios, a satellite dish, laptops, and network connection equipment. All the tools necessary to keep key leaders informed of what is happening in and around the base during an outage.

"With this kit we can sync our radio frequencies with the responding local authorities so we can coordinate our efforts during emergencies," said Liss. "Being able to communicate is crucial to successfully handling any emergency and ours is specifically designed to hold that function at any military installation between the Keys and Tampa."

Participating units included the 452nd Communications Squadron, March Air Reserve Base, California, 440th Communications Flight, Pope Army Airfield, North Carolina, 914th Communications Squadron, Niagara Falls Air Reserve Station, New York, and the 94th Communications Squadron, Dobbins Air Reserve Base, Georgia.

"The exercise allowed us to network with our sister squadrons at the hands-on level," said Wells. "We glean operating and repair information you can't obtain anywhere else."

With hurricane season at its peak, the timing was right for a practice run.

"During the response to the 9/11 attacks, inter-agency first responders weren't able to effectively communicate with one another which brought the concept of these kits into the minds of the emergency management community," said 1st Lt. J. Anthony Rubio, 482nd CS cyber systems operations officer in charge. "The concept became a reality when the issue arose again during the response to Hurricane Katrina, and the kits were put together shortly after."

Rubio said there was currently no standardization among the kits or instructions on how they should be used. He said the base recovery exercise mainly focused on what worked and what didn't so the teams could start drafting instructions to ensure efficient utilization of the kits.

The units spent most of the week setting up and tearing down the kits provided by the 482nd and 914th CS so that when disaster knocks on their door, they'll be ready.

"We were able to let some of our new technicians touch every piece of the JISCC operation. That isn't usually possible during a busy UTA," said Wells. "Working together with the other units has been great. They've come up with some really creative ideas that we can use here."

Once the manual labor was completed, the units started the process of tailoring comprehensive operating instructions to meet the needs of each distinct unit.
Meanwhile, members of the 482nd CS put themselves to the test while wing inspection team members inspected them as part of the ongoing Unit Effectiveness Inspection cycle Oct. 23.

"For the first of its kind, this inspection was a success," said Liss. "The members performed very well, mistakes were made, but nothing critical that can't be fixed with time, training, or a baseline operating instruction."

Representatives from the Army, Navy, and Broward county emergency management office came out to watch as the members demonstrated their proficiency during the inspection.

"We received a positive reaction from the guests that came out during the inspection," said Liss. "We were able to develop some potential future exercises from this and incorporate some of the local emergency response teams."

The operating instruction drafts will be sent to the units that weren't present for review and then package everything for Air Force Reserve Command headquarters to review and potentially implement.

"This was a big step forward in standardizing how we provide emergency communications support, and we look forward to this being an annual event that rotates between AFRC bases," said Wells.