Emergency Management Branch keeps Kirtland going

  • Published
  • By Jennifer Emmons
  • Nucleus Journalist
KIRTLAND AIR FORCE BASE, NEW MEXICO --  In times of crisis, be it a natural disaster or a terrorism-related situation, Kirtland AFB Civil Engineer Emergency Management Branch is the prime agency to respond and make sure all proper avenues are taken to secure the conditions.

The EM Branch, 377th Mission Support Group Civil Engineer Division, is the installation emergency management focal point, said Jaime Tavarez, EM branch manager.

"This office manages and executes the installation EM program for the installation commander and the base civil engineer as directed in Air Force Policy Directives and Instructions," Mr. Tavarez said. The EM Branch, formerly known as the Emergency Readiness Division, is contracted through Chugach.

"The primary missions of the Kirtland EM Program are to save lives, minimize the loss or degradation of resources and continue, sustain and restore combat support operational capability in an all-hazards physical threat environment at here," Mr. Tavarez said. EM plans and responds to all forms of disaster, from natural disasters, like fires and flooding, to terrorist-related incidents, to chemical, nuclear or biological threats.

"Emergency Management functions are no different than the active duty readiness branch," he said. "We do the three biggies: we plan for base disasters; we conduct training for first responders for those dealing with direct threats and homeland security; and training for responders dealing with high-yield explosives, chemical and biological incidents, and those responders being deployed."

The EM Branch also provides briefs to wing personnel upon their arrival here about the local disaster threat and what actions to take should such an incident occur.

"Of course planning and providing guidance for these events means practice and the EM Staff are members of the 377th Air Base Wing Exercise Evaluation Team and assist in developing effective scenarios allowing maximum realism to responders," Mr. Tavarez said. "This requires them to evaluate and provide training in just about every area of emergency response, military exercises and inspections."

Some responsibilities that the EM Branch carries during support of a major inspection like the Nuclear Surety Inspection are visible while others remain "behind the scenes."
Those visible tasks the EM Branch does include maintaining, deploying and operating the EM Mobile Command Post during installation exercises, real-world emergencies, or when requested for support by the incident or on-scene commanders. The EM staff responds with the MCP to assist the on-scene or incident commanders with command and control operations during response to on-base or off-base incidents which involve the Department of Defense. The MCP is equipped to provide worldwide communications to the on-scene commander and responding forces.

"The Fire Department works hand-in-hand with Emergency Management anytime we have an incident," said Fire Chief Abe Simpkins. "If they (EM) are called for support, they bring an MCP and communicate with the Disaster Control Group to get any other required support."

The EM team conducts training for wing emergency responders to support the wing missions, Mr. Tavarez said. Training focuses on hands-on application drills, including checklist use, map reading and use of radio/telephone to allow students maximum training and experience with equipment that responders use.

"The EM Branch is also responsible to train, equip and deploy an Emergency Management Support Team to provide the incident or on-scene commander a capability to process emergency responders from an accident site which could be 'dirty.' This team directly supports the NSI mission of the installation," he said.

"New Air Force policies and the changing world threats have added a significant number of responsibilities to both the government and contractor operations," Mr. Tavarez said. "Some of the indicators involve an increase in military deployments worldwide which directly affects those support functions which make the personnel deployment-ready. Recent world events have drawn government and contractor functions together to focus on getting the warfighters and support functions ready to deploy and provide post-deployment support as well."