Article source: http://www.illinois.gov/PressReleases/ShowPressRelease.cfm?SubjectID=45&RecNum=10255

(L to R) Lt. Gen. (Ret.) Mike Short; Lt. Gen. Sid Clarke, Air Forces Northern (AFNORTH) commander; and Canadian Brig. Gen. Chris Coates, U.S. Continental North American Aerospace Defense Command (CONR) deputy commander, share a discussion during the Ardent Sentry 12 exercise. In his role as senior mentor during AFNORTH’s participation in the exercise, General Short observed and shared lessons he learned during his career in command positions with General Clarke and members of the staff.

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  AFNORTH completes week-long hurricane relief exercise

Posted 5/10/2012   Updated 5/10/2012
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by Maj. Kat Hyche
AFNORTH Public Affairs

5/10/2012 - TYNDALL AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. – Air Forces Northern (AFNORTH) wrapped up a week-long exercise that centered on working with interagency partners to provide support to civil authorities as a simulated hurricane barreled towards Texas.

Exercise Ardent Sentry 12, a U.S. Northern Command exercise held May 2-9, gave AFNORTH members an opportunity to run though its Defense Support of Civil Authorities (DSCA) processes and procedures ahead of the approaching hurricane season, which begins June 1.

“Our job is to be prepared to support the American people in their time of need. We take that responsibility seriously and, as the AFNORTH commander, I need to ensure that our Airmen are capable and ready,” said Lt. Gen. Sid Clarke, AFNORTH commander. “We have tried to learn the lessons of Hurricane Katrina. During these types of disasters, you have to get it right the first time. We used this exercise to work through potential roadblocks and to practice with our state and federal partners.”

The exercise kicked off with a scenario simulating a devastating category 4 hurricane approaching the southern Texas coastline with 145 mph sustained winds. AFNORTH deployed emergency planning liaison officers (EPLO) and pre-positioned other assets in anticipation of the simulated hurricane making landfall.

“Every hurricane or disaster situation has unique challenges and circumstances. For any complex contingency, our biggest challenge is to quickly assess the likely needs of the civilian authorities and to ensure we have the right people and assets ready to provide relief support,” said General Clarke.

Also ahead of landfall, the 601st Air and Space Operations Center (AOC) Regional Air Movement Coordination Center (RAMCC) simulated standing up operations at several airports in Texas to facilitate the aeromedical evacuation of patients and other people. Additionally, AFNORTH officials deployed a Joint Air Component Coordination Elements (JACCE) to Fort Sam Houston, Texas, along with Army North’s Joint Task Force 51 to provide relief support. Search and rescue (SAR) personnel and assets were also pre-positioned at various locations near the expected landfall region.

Civil Air Patrol units, in their role as the Air Force Auxiliary, flew pre- and post-landfall imagery missions in Texas and Louisiana. This imagery provided civil authorities a birds-eye view of conditions on the ground. Local officials used the imagery to determine the best courses of action for saving lives and providing disaster relief.

As the exercise played out, the simulated Hurricane Zelda weakened to a Category 2 as it made landfall with sustained winds of 105 mph and storm surges up to 23 feet in South Padre Island.

AFNORTH quickly responded to requests for support from civil authorities for a variety of needs such as SAR, logistics, and imagery provided by the pre-positioned assets as well as other capabilities Air Force can bring to bear.

“This was my first DSCA exercise as commander of AFNORTH, and, like most exercises the fog and friction of large contingencies, generated the most valuable training,” said General Clarke. “The exercise also allowed us to turn our attention to the upcoming hurricane season. We pulled out old business cards, lashed up with all the other stakeholders and agencies, and worked together to hone how we anticipate providing pre-incident and post-incident support. That’s not easy to do. But, I think we did a good job of demonstrating AFNORTH’s ability to support to civil authorities.”

Article source: http://www.1af.acc.af.mil/news/story.asp?id=123301585

Local television stations Channel 7 and Channel 13 interview Tom Pieknik, National Security Emergency Preparedness coordinator, while reporting on Air Force Northern’s participation in Ardent Sentry 12.

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AFNORTH continues to sharpen skills during hurricane exercise

Posted 5/6/2012   Updated 5/6/2012
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by Maj. Kay Hyche
AFNORTH Public Affairs

5/6/2012 - TYNDALL AIR FORCE BASE, Fla.  – Air Forces Northern (AFNORTH) continues to sharpen its hurricane preparedness skills during exercise Ardent Sentry ’12 by providing support to civil authorities after a simulated Hurricane Zelda made landfall in Texas.

Ardent Sentry 12, being held May 2-9, is a U.S. Northern Command (USNORTHCOM) focused on Defense Support of Civil Authorities (DCSA). The exercise is designed to validate existing DSCA plans, policies, and procedures, including the Federal Inter-agency Response Plans, as well as state and regional plans

The exercise reached the scenario stage of a simulated devastating category 4 hurricane actually weakening to a Category 2 before making landfall in Brownsville, Texas, Saturday night at about midnight. The hurricane had sustained wind speeds of 105 mph and a storm surge that reached 14-17 feet in the Brownsville area and up to 23 feet in South Padre Island. The hurricane produced rain accumulations of 4 to 8 inches over Texas with a maximum of up to possible 15 inches.

Air Force Airmen from across the country were deployed to various locations in preparation of the hurricane making landfall as part of the exercise. The deployed Airmen provided AFNORTH with situational awareness of the ongoing relief efforts and established common processes and practices in coordination with other agencies. During DSCA missions, all AFNORTH efforts are in support of a lead federal agency.

And it was a busy several days of preparation by exercise participants.

· AFNORTH was ready with prepositioned helicopter crews for search-and-rescue missions (SAR) standing by to respond after the storm hit land. The designated SAR aircraft are capable of nighttime search and rescue and also will transport Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) assessment teams over the area to gather critical information for state and federal emergency managers.

· AFNORTH also had pre-deployed Emergency Planning Liaison Officers (EPLO) to work with state, local and civil authorities in recovery efforts for the estimated one million people who decided to ride out the storm for this exercise. During the exercise play, the simulated evacuations of more than 500,000 people from the threatened area was planned for and completed.

· Also as part of the exercise, AFNORTH planners worked with various agencies to ensure Randolph and Laughlin Air Force bases in Texas were established as support installations to stage military and FEMA relief supplies prior to the storm.

· AFNORTH officials deployed a Joint Air Component Coordination Elements (JACCE) in response to the Hurricane Zelda. The AFNORTH JACCE team deployed to Fort Sam Houston, Texas, to support Joint Task Force 51 Hurricane Zelda relief preparation efforts. The task force and JACCE has since forward deployed to Laredo, Texas. JACCE members are Air Force subject matter experts who serve to coordinate Air Force assets to assist wherever needed during times of crisis.

· Additionally ahead of landfall, the 601st Air and Space Operations Center (601st AOC) provided support at three international airports in Texas. As part of the exercise, the state of Texas requested Department of Defense support to help evacuate approximately 17,500 residents and 500 aero-medical patients prior to Hurricane Zelda hitting land.

· In support of simulated evacuations from the projected landfall area, the 601st AOC Regional Air Movement Coordination Center (RAMCC) stood up Thursday to provide support at Brownsville/South Padre Island International Airport in Brownsville, McAllen Miller International Airport in McAllen, and Valley International Airport in Harlingen. RAMCC facilitated the aero-medical evacuation of nearly 500 patients and evacuating 17,500 people. The RAMCC typically coordinates all U.S. military, commercial, governmental and non-governmental flow control into and out of the ramp area at these airports. Operating 24 hours a day, they provide aircraft landing and take-off times and coordinate air traffic control with various civilian agencies. The RAMCC stood down operations Friday.

· Continuing to ensure forces were ready when needed, AFNORTH simulated the activation of the 487th Air Expeditionary Wing (AEW) at Fort Hood, Texas, to bring AFNORTH operational and medical personnel and equipment to support the first responders and FEMA for consequence and crisis management. The 487th AEW consists of an expeditionary medical group, providing a 160-member team of highly-trained medical professionals and a mobile hospital to support the medical needs of emergency responders. The 487th also has a geographically separated expeditionary operations group at Grissom Air Reserve Base, Ind., providing search and rescue capability to military forces and civilian agencies operating in the field.

· Along with all the other exercise planning, AFNORTH responded to a Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) request for aerial imagery of the predicted Hurricane Zelda disaster area prior to landfall. AFNORTH has a variety of aerial platforms available to capture imagery of the forecasted impact areas depending on the requirements of the requesting agency. One of the mainstays of AFNORTH’s ability to provide imagery to civil authorities is the Civil Air Patrol (CAP). When tasked to execute their Air Force Auxiliary mission, CAP units across the country can quickly respond to provide civilian agencies with much needed imagery that can be used to analyze and assess conditions on the ground prior to, during and after a disaster or contingency. Currently, CAP has units ready to support disaster response efforts in Texas and Louisiana.

Most hurricane response efforts can be handled by the respective states and state National Guard forces. USNORTHCOM, located at Peterson Air Force Base, Colo., will conduct DSCA when federal military forces or capabilities are required for the Continental U.S., the Virgin Islands or Puerto Rico. As the Air Force component command to USNORTHCOM, AFNORTH provides Air Force support during DSCA events and events like this training exercise ensure AFNORTH is ready when needed.

Article source: http://www.1af.acc.af.mil/news/story.asp?id=123301007

Florida Sen. Marco Rubio made his first visit to the 601st Air and Space Operations Center, often referred to as ‘America’s AOC’, and met with members of the 101st Air and Space Operations Group May 1, during a familiarization visit to meet personnel and have a firsthand look at AOC capabilities defending America’s skies.

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Florida senator pays visit to America’s AOC

Posted 5/1/2012   Updated 5/1/2012
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by Capt. Jared Scott
601st AOC Public Affairs

5/1/2012 - TYNDALL AIR FORCE BASE, Fla.  – Florida Sen. Marco Rubio made his first visit to the 601st Air and Space Operations Center, often referred to as ‘America’s AOC’, and met with members of the 101st Air and Space Operations Group here May 1, during a familiarization visit to meet personnel and have a firsthand look at AOC capabilities defending America’s skies.

Senator Rubio was joined by State director Todd Reid, Region director Kris Tande, and Military Legislative Assistant Brian Walsh.

“Any time America’s AOC has a visit from Florida leadership it validates to our members just how important their jobs are,” said Col. Randy Spear, 601st AOC commander. “America’s AOC is a world-class facility and our members are second to none. I echo my fellow AOC leadership staff when I say that we feel it is very important to share with government officials and Florida leaders the vital mission that we do here; vital not only for the state of Florida but for the nation!”

The 101st AOG, a Florida Air National Guard unit, provides manning for the 601st AOC to fulfill its mission of defending the homeland.

“It’s an honor to have Senator Rubio and his staff visit us here at America’s AOC to see what the Florida Air National Guard is doing at Tyndall,” said Col. Tom Cucchi, 101st AOG commander.

During their visit, the senator received a tour of the facilities. Included in the tour was a visit to the operations floor where members of America’s AOC monitor air traffic across the continental United States, Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico.

“It’s an honor to be here with the men and women of America’s AOC. We are proud to have them here in Florida and are grateful for their service to our nation,” said Senator Rubio.

The 601st AOC is responsible for detecting, deterring, defending and if necessary, defeating any aviation threat to the citizens of the United States and to U.S. critical infrastructure.

On June 1, 2007, the 601st AOC opened the doors on its state-of-the-art, 37,000 square-foot, $30.5 million air and space operations center.

This facility enhances the 601st AOC’s ability to protect America’s skies from attack, as well as provide lifesaving relief during natural and man-made disasters.

For more information on America’s AOC or its mission visit www.facebook.com/americasaoc.

Article source: http://www.1af.acc.af.mil/news/story.asp?id=123300273