STARKE, Fla. - The six-month hurricane season, which begins Saturday, is likely to be a busy one, forecasters said.
NOAA's Atlantic Hurricane Season Outlook says there is a 70 percent likelihood of 13 to 20 named storms (winds of 39 mph or higher), of which 7 to 11 could become hurricanes (winds of 74 mph or higher), including 3 to 6 major hurricanes (Category 3, 4 or 5; winds of 111 mph or higher).
So the recent Vigilant Guard disaster response exercise in Florida couldn't afford to be anything less than ambitious.
More than 2,000 state, local and federal personnel converged on Camp Blanding Joint Training Center, May 17-23 for Vigilant Guard-FL 2013. The massive annual exercise sponsored by U.S. Northern Command was focused on Defense Support of Civil Authorities (DSCA), and simulated a collaborative disaster response effort that in reality would have overwhelmed any one agency.
The scenario itself was bold: multiple disasters – from a plane crash to a building collapse – had occurred in Florida, and two hurricanes were speeding toward the state. Civilian first-responders and National Guard members were on the scene, and other state and federal agencies were brought in to assist.
"This is not your average Vigilant Guard," said Lt. Col. Michael Ladd, commander of the Florida National Guard's 44th Civil Support Team (CST), who helped serve as one of the exercise coordinators.
Ladd explained that Vigilant Guard-FL 2013 represented the "full-spectrum" of DSCA operations, and included everyone from county fire departments to National Guard units (Title 32 status) and active duty forces (Title 10 status). National Guardsmen from states including Florida, Georgia and Tennessee were brought in as part of the response efforts during the week.
"With all these forces brought into one it is truly neighbors helping neighbors," Ladd said, while reviewing search-and-rescue operations at the site of a simulated building collapse.
While he spoke, Guard members worked side-by-side with emergency responders from Clay County, Fla., removing "injured" role players from large piles of rubble specially designed for the exercise.
"We've always got to be ready; we never know what is going to happen," Ladd said. "These relationships we form out here are important, especially during the nuances of an (actual) event."
"We looked for a scenario where we would have to test as much of the state's resources as we could," said Panama City Fire Chief Wayne Watts, whose fire rescue specialists responded to the scene of a simulated hazardous materials release during the exercise.
Disaster response training wasn't the only thing Watts and his team gained from Vigilant Guard. Learning how to work with and around different agencies – and demonstrating their own capabilities – was just as important.
"People think that all we do is drag hose," Watts said. "They don't understand our job is extremely complex. You could really call us the 'Swiss army knife' of emergency services. We do it all."
Staff Sgt. Robby Creech, of the Florida Army National Guard's 868th Engineer Company, agreed the integrated training aspect of Vigilant Guard was unique because most of his Soldiers would not have the ability to work with civilian first responders until an actual disaster happens.
"We don't do this day-to-day," Creech said, watching as his team helped evacuate casualties from the scene of a building collapse. "To work side-by-side with these guys who do it this for a living is (valuable). It is great information they are giving us and good training."
The list of participants in this exercise was lengthy, and included key emergency response experts from several agencies including North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) and U.S. Northern Command, the U.S. Army and U.S. Air Force, National Guard Bureau, FEMA, and even Miami-Dade Fire Rescue.
"We're bringing the local element, the state element and the federal elements together during a disaster," said John Ward, Deputy Director of Emergency Management for Clay County in Florida. "It's about getting to know each other now rather than during a disaster."
He said the exercise was especially crucial for Florida with the imminent hurricane season.
"And with all of our shrinking budgets both in government and the military, we all will have to depend on each other a lot more," Ward said.
Vigilant Guard-FL 2013, a sub-component of NORAD and U.S. Northern Command's annual Ardent Sentry exercise, was also a chance for the Florida National Guard to test the "dual-status commander" concept where a single commander, usually a National Guard officer, is given tactical control of both state-controlled National Guard forces and Department of Defense military forces. During the exercise, Assistant Adjutant General for the Florida Army National Guard Maj. Gen. James Tyre assumed the unique command of both Title 10 and Title 32 forces.
Vice Chief of the National Guard Bureau Lt. Gen. Joseph L. Lengyel, who visited the 73,000-acre training post to witness the Vigilant Guard activities, called the dual-status commander concept "an answer to a long-term problem" of blending Title 10 and Title 32 forces into one construct during a disaster response.
The general said the dual-status commander concept was utilized after Hurricane Sandy, will be tested with the upcoming Boy Scout Jamboree, and is proving a success.
"The key to success in dealing with a contingency is unity of effort," Lengyel said. "The role that we play in the National Guard to help first responders in a civil support scenario is crucial to what we do.
"Coming here and being prepared to work with our other agency partners in a training scenario – before an event actually happens – goes a long way towards making us successful," he said.