MONTGOMERY, Ala. - The Alabama National Guard takes disaster response seriously and to prepare for the upcoming storm season Guard members from across the state gathered here Saturday, for a Rehearsal of Concept drill to rehearse the state's hurricane operations response plan.
Staff members from the Alabama Emergency Management Agency were on-hand for the rehearsal due to the close working relationship of the AEMA and the National Guard during disaster relief.
"We are a coordinating agency," said Jeff Byard, AEMA Executive Operations Officer. "The National Guard is our force multiplier."
Members of U.S. Northern Command - the U.S. military's command responsible for North America - were also on-hand, including the Alabama National Guard's Army Maj. Gen. Charles Gailes, now commander of USNORTHCOM's Task Force 51.
The rehearsal included Alabama National Guard Joint Force Headquarters and individual unit actions to prepare for a hurricane response. The event covered pre-hurricane season activities, hurricane approach through land fall, and beyond. The practice ensured that Guard members fully understand the response plan at all levels and synchronize actions from the JFHQ level down to the unit level in response to a hurricane.
Guard members briefed from two lecterns standing on the panhandle of Florida on a map that took up the entire drill hall floor. Other Soldiers used placards to show where their respective units would provide a particular asset at a particular time during response as a 4-foot-wide hurricane symbol approached and then landed on the map that spanned 40 feet wide and 85 feet long.
This rehearsal leads to next month's weeklong hurricane response exercise where the Alabama National Guard will practice in a simulated environment the actions taken in storm response, again from pre-landfall operations to days into the response.
These rehearsals and exercises are key to mission success and are "the reason we did so well last year with the tornadoes," said Army Maj. Gen. Perry G. Smith, Alabama National Guard adjutant general.
"A hurricane will always be the number one threat to Alabama," Byard said.
Even though this rehearsal is for hurricanes, the preparations, coordination and many of the missions are the same for most disasters that may face the state, Smith said.
"Hurricanes are what we're known for," he said. "This is what we do."
"The final result of all the preparation and training prior to this ROC drill, the conduct of this drill and then the exercise in May is that the Alabama National Guard is fully prepared to respond to a hurricane by the June 1 beginning of hurricane season," said Army Lt. Col. Jim Hawkins, Alabama National Guard deputy director of domestic response.