EDGEWOOD, Md. - Experts are predicting a "well above average" hurricane season for 2008, and the Maryland Army National Guard stands ready to respond.
In addition to attending quarterly flood rescue meetings and continually honing their skills as professional Soldiers by practicing lifesaving rescue techniques, Maryland Army National Guard aviators are now learning how to use a new piece of communications equipment developed specifically to talk to local first responders on the ground and government officials during an emergency.
This new multi-band radio, known as Project 25 or P-25, enables Maryland Army Guard aviators to talk to just about any emergency first responder or agency during a crisis using three different bands or frequencies that are standard in the first responder community.
According to Col. Charles H. Schulze, Maryland's state Army aviation and aviation training officer, Project 25 is a public safety communications standard dedicated to ensuring interoperability in communications. It is designed to ensure fast and secure communications between local, state and federal agencies when protecting the public's welfare.
"We are continuing to improve our ability to support our first responders with our aviation capability," said Schulze. "Standardization and interoperability are what we're shooting for."
During an evening training flight, 1st Lt. Bruce E. Hartt, from Company C, 1st Battalion, 169th Medevac, was piloting a Maryland National Guard helicopter and using the new radio to talk to emergency responders on the ground. That wouldn't have been possible even a year ago.
"It's a valuable asset to the Guard because it magnifies our ability to participate in any type of response. It prepares us to do a federal response as well as our state mission because we can now talk to all sorts of assets on the ground like the Coast Guard, FEMA, local police and fire," said Hartt. "We can participate in all those missions now."
Hartt and Schulze were able to use the one-hour training flight to practice "plain speak" radio skills to communicate with the Coast Guard station in Baltimore and the Maryland Joint Operations Center as well as listen to multiple police and fire calls from both Harford and Montgomery counties.
Schulze said this type of familiarization training with this radio is absolutely critical for his pilots to help them get past what he calls "mic fright".
"[The pilots] just aren't sure who they are talking to and they are a little intimidated by what to say and how to say it," said Schulze. "I've tried to tell everybody to just use plain speak and you can't go wrong. We are all learning. They are all professionals."
"In Maryland, we have purchased enough radios to outfit every Black Hawk we have in the Maryland Guard with this P-25 radio," said Schulze who hopes to make that same investment in Maryland's CH-47 helicopter fleet.
With more than 15 named hurricanes forecast to form in the Atlantic basin between June 1 and Nov. 30, Schulze said it is absolutely critical to train Maryland Guard pilots with this new equipment.
According to Schulze, the Maryland Guard has a robust and unique aviation asset that could be called on not only for a state or local emergency, but also for a larger regional or national response.
"Maryland is unique because of its aviation force structure," said Schulze. "It has air ambulance, it has assault, it has cargo and it has support and security"”all in one aviation support facility and aviation brigade."
According to Lt. Col. Ellen Krenke, a spokesperson for National Guard Bureau, the National Guard is prepared nationwide to respond to terrorist attacks or natural disasters at any time and any where in support of civilian responders.
"We have more than 400,000 Citizen-Soldiers and Citizen-Airmen available to assist with personnel and equipment should any governor request it," said Krenke.
"Maryland is continuing to close the gap in both training and equipment to support those local first responders," said Schulze.
The Maryland Army National Guard is setting the standard in supporting first responders in flood rescue emergencies, he said, and can respond within 30 minutes to an emergency if it is during the duty day and within a few hours if the call comes in the middle of the night.
"The most difficult situation for an Army National Guard aircraft is to find itself supporting first responders who have never done any training with the military or the National Guard and suddenly in an emergency situation where they have to come together and rescue people," said Schulze.
"It's an evolving relationship and an evolving capability," said Schulze. "It's training for the National Guard so that we can be ready and refreshed on how to support those first responders when the time comes."