New emergency response mindset takes hold at Arnold

  • Published
  • By Philip Lorenz III
  • AEDC/PA
ARNOLD AIR FORCE BASE, Tenn. --  Most Arnold Engineering Development Center (AEDC) employees have probably noticed an increase in the number of emergency response drills on base during the summer, but what does it all mean? 

Aerospace Testing Alliance (ATA) Emergency Management Lead / Coordinator Daryl Justice said the government, which has a long established national emergency response plan, saw a need to consolidate it because of inconsistencies between how the Department of Defense and other agencies respond to that plan. The increased tempo of emergency response drills is part of that process. 

"There have been a lot of things that have happened since 9/11 that brought a lot of emphasis home on the need nationally, to become more consolidated and better prepared to respond to terrorist actions," he said. "Well since then, we've had the bridge collapse in Minnesota, tornados, and, of course, Katrina." 

He said natural disasters in the U.S. seem to be impacting more people than before - from hundreds during the Xenia Tornado which struck Xenia, Ohio in 1974, up to thousands in more recent years. Justice knows this from first-hand experience. 

"That (Xenia) was the first natural disaster I responded to as an (Air Force) disaster preparedness specialist," he recalled. 

He first came to AEDC in 1977 with the Air Force, transitioned to the civil service and returned in 1983 to work with Pan Am - then the AEDC mission support contractor - all in the same capacity. 

Dan Johnson, the ATA exercise program officer, reported to AEDC about two months ago to head up the center's emergency response exercise program. This job also includes the duties of Exercise Evaluation Team (EET) chief. 

He, like Justice, is not new to the Air Force or Arnold. Then Lt. Col. Johnson was AEDC Air Force Chief of Safety and the EET Chief from 2002 until 2005. 

Johnson said the Air Force's new emergency response methodology is known as Air Force Incident Management System (AFIMS). 

"AFIMS provides the Air Force with an incident management system that is consistent with the single, comprehensive approach to domestic incident management," he explained. "In other words, AFIMS puts the Air Force on the same page of Federal, state and local departments and agencies when it comes to dealing with any emergency." 

We are still in the early stages of implementing this change, but AEDC has made great strides in the past six months. According to an Air Force Materiel Command official, Arnold is leading the command in the implementation of AFIMS at a base level." 

According to Johnson, one of Center Commander Col. Art Huber's priorities as we function under AFIMS is accounting for all base personnel. In every accident or incident, and that includes exercises, you want to know that all of your people are accounted for and safe. 

"For example, during the recent wildfires in California, headquarters directed an accountability check of every base to determine if we had anybody who was out in that particular area," Johnson said. "Anybody from Arnold who happened to be in the literal line of fire in California that needs our help - that is something we can know by conducting accountability check." 

Johnson said the role of the Commander's Senior Staff (formerly the Battle Staff) and the Emergency Operation Center (EOC), which is composed of 15 Emergency Support Function (ESF) teams, is to save lives and property while ensuring AEDC continues its mission. 

"Each ESF team can include as many as five or six people who are subject matter experts in a given area, like civil engineering or environmental," he explained. 

Not every incident requires activation of the EOC, according to Justice. 

"Small spills are handled by the fire department, environmental
and maybe civil engineers," he said. "But if that spill turned out to be 100 gallons of Trichloroethylene (TCE) or 500 gallons of gasoline or something really extremely hazardous, then the EOC would stand up." 

Besides the accountability issue, the other challenge is educating and raising the awareness of the base populace. 

"We can't just rely on the first responders when we're dealing with a serious natural disaster or a terrorist attack," Johnson said. 

"One of the keys of the Force Protection anti-terrorism exercises is that the entire base populace is enlisted as a security force multiplier. Then you've got more than 2,500 eyes and ears out there watching for something that looks abnormal or someone who is acting suspiciously or not where they're supposed to be. Those 2,500-plus security force 'augmentees' are essential to everyone's security."