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 Arkansas Guard readies for hurricane season support By 2nd Lt. Theresa L. Walker
                119th Mobile Public Affairs Detachment
 WALNUT RIDGE, Ark. - Soldiers with the Camp Robinson based 77th Aviation Brigade participated in a joint exercise recently with the Arkansas Air National Guard's 154th Weather Flight in preparation for a new mission with the upcoming hurricane season. The brigade's Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 1st Battalion, 114th Security and Support (S&S) and other selected personnel are tasked as the command and control element for possible hurricane relief in Louisiana this year. As part of lessons learned from Hurricane Katrina, the National Guard recognized the need for better command and control during such an emergency and chose Arkansas to fill that requirement. Along with the 154th, the 1st Battalion worked in coordination with local authorities during their annual training period here at Swindle Airfield to identify any needs they might have before they get a call from Louisiana. The training focused on scenarios for homeland security, homeland defense and disaster relief missions. The training based scenario of "bringing supplies, support, command and control, and elements all come into play to provide the local authorities as much assistance as possible," said 1st Lt. Samuel Baker, training and operations officer for the 1st Battalion. "Should a hurricane or other natural disaster strike Louisiana, they would give us a call and we would be on station [in Hammond, La.] as their command and control element," he said. "We will be receiving all sorts of air assets, supplies, and support for the relief missions that would be taking place in Louisiana." As part of this forward element, the 154th Weather Flight of the Arkansas Air National Guard would also deploy a five man crew. The 154th is tasked to support the 114th and provide weather support to the air crews by giving them weather briefings and forecasts and by providing resource protection for the airfield. "We will provide the same exact weather support," said Air National Guard Master Sgt. Paul Wilkerson, 154th Weather Flight non-commissioned officer in charge (NCOIC). "So this [annual training] will give us a chance to exercise our abilities to support them in the event of a deployment or call up." In addition to training for the Louisiana mission, the hurricane command and control team is trying to work out some of the kinks by identifying any equipment or assets that may be necessary to accomplish that mission. "Based on a 96-hour turn around time, we've got to have capabilities that allow us to communicate immediately when there is no power available," said Master Sgt. Terry Martin, training and operations NCOIC for the 1st Battalion of the 114th. "Things such as radios, walkie-talkies, power generation equipment and televisions, aren't on our MTOE (military table of organization and equipment) because they don't meet the basic minimum needs, but are required to get us up and communicating quickly." From the time the hurricane command and control team receives the call for hurricane support, they have 96 hours to get to Hammond, La., over 400 miles from Camp Robinson, and set up operations. "Communications are number one," said Martin. "We found that when we were first responders down to Katrina that communications were by far, first and foremost, the biggest detractor from being able to execute our missions." "We have to identify short falls and short comings to the equipment," said Martin. "So we could possibly go back to DOMS (Director of Military Support) and say here is what we have found and what we need to fix our communication issues." Besides setting up their own communications, they will have to coordinate with the local authorities and law enforcement prior to beginning any mission. Practicing this was part of their annual training. "We have been working in coordination with the local fire station, sheriff's department, police and hospitals here in Walnut Ridge, getting locations, grid coordinates and diagrams for landing and pick up zones where we would potentially pick up passengers, casualties and supplies that may be necessary to complete the mission," said Baker. "We do all of this coordination prior to us beginning any mission on ground. It requires quite a bit of involvement and coordination with the local authorities just to get into the communities." The National Guard played a key role in supporting the Gulf Coast states in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. Over 50,000 Guardsmen from all 54 states and territories deployed to the area in support of the affected communities. Arkansas alone provided over 3,000 then and is continually leaning forward in preparation for tomorrow.
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