During the wildfires in California last October, at least 1,500 homes were destroyed and more than 500,000 acres of land burned. Nine people died as a direct result of the fires while 85 others were injured, according to media reports.
Over 900,000 residents evacuated to escape the projected path of the fires, far exceeding the number evacuated from New Orleans during Hurricane Katrina, reported the San Diego Union Tribune.
Many of these evacuees were San Diego-based military members and their families. In response, Naval Bases Point Loma, San Diego and Coronado set up evacuation centers designed to help Navy families that fled their homes.
Additionally, nonessential personnel from Naval Base San Diego barracks were moved onto nearby vessels to accommodate additional Department of Defense displaced personnel.
The Defense Department provided a variety of support services to civil authorities to help battle the California fires. March Air Reserve Base was the primary staging area for relief supplies that were coordinated by the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
The National Guard called up 1,500 troops to man the fire lines, and another 100 California National Guard medical personnel provided medical assistance, according to CNN.
The Navy's Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron 85, based at Naval Air Station North Island, made more than 1,100 water drops on the fires in San Diego County, while more than 100 Sailors and federal firefighters battled the fires on the ground using trucks, fire engines and bulldozers.
Marine Corps Air Station Miramar and Camp Pendleton contributed several bulldozers, aircraft and firefighting trucks. A total of 12 fire engines from local bases were assigned for firefighting efforts.
Additionally, Commander, Navy Region Southwest, led by Rear Adm. Len Hering, stood up a Region Operations Center and Crisis Action Team for seven days of sustained operations. The team synchronized the shore force response of more than 5,000 Sailors and federal employees in disaster relief operations and provided Navy liaison officers to the county's Office of Emergency Services for full coordination with civil authorities.
In sharp contrast from the criticism voiced after Hurricane Katrina, the response and relief efforts by federal, state and local agencies involved in the California wildfires were widely praised. While the response was not without communication and coordination difficulties, the overall improvement in emergency management was not accidental; it was the result of a determined effort to integrate governmental efforts in preparing for and responding to major incidents.
This effort began in earnest after 9/11 with Homeland Security Presidential Directive/HSPD-5. HSPD-5's stated objective is “to ensure that all levels of government across the Nation have the capability to work efficiently and effectively together, using a national approach to domestic incident management.”
A significant feature within this national approach is the mandate that DoD has the responsibility to prepare for domestic emergencies, through measures taken in advance and during an incident, to reduce loss of life and property and to protect the nation's institutions.
Commander, Navy Installations Command (CNIC), has actively embraced this concept by aggressively establishing and manning regional and installation emergency operation centers (EOC) throughout the CNIC enterprise. This effort is driven by CNIC's foresight to operationalize shore forces and align them with fleet warfighting capabilities.
To further this strategic vision an emergency management classroom and war gaming center of excellence for the shore force enterprise was built on Naval Base Coronado. This center, the Shore Force Training Center (SFTC), opened in September 2008 and will be the cornerstone of CNIC's vision to transform Navy installations and specifically address HSPD-5's objective to ensure that all levels of the government have the capability to work efficiently and effectively together using a national approach to incident management.
To accomplish this objective the SFTC will provide an emergency management learning continuum focused on both regional and installation emergency managers and EOC personnel. This continuum will include classroom instruction, an information library, SFTC-generated individual and unit-level distributed learning, self-paced interactive computer-based war gaming scenarios and all-hazards exercise events that are scalable from the unit-level to the full CNIC enterprise.
Additionally, emergency management training and exercises will be enhanced by leveraging and incorporating realistic synthetic training methods.
"The challenge in meeting the Chairman JCS (Joint Chiefs of Staff) high interest training issues is developing a realistic training environment that matches the operational environment. The SFTC is a key capability in our CNIC adaptive enterprise that will sense and respond to unpredicted changes in the netted command and control ashore.
"It will provide the live, virtual and constructive 'hub' that will be linked to the Navy Continuous Training Environment and the Joint National Training Capability," said Randy Morgan, training and readiness program director in CNIC N7.
SFTC classroom instruction initially consists of four courses: Emergency Manager (EM); EOC Incident Management Team; Installation Training Officer (ITO); and Crisis Action Planning Team Leader. The EM course prepares an individual to be the emergency management program manager at the regional or installation level. Emphasis is on developing, coordinating and executing the Navy installation EM program within the assigned geographic area.
The Emergency Operations Center Incident Management Team course prepares individuals to serve as members of an EOC incident management team by introducing the principles, components and characteristics of a risk-based emergency management program.
Emphasis is placed on the functions of an EOC, the activation and operation of the installation's EOC in support of a disaster or emergency that includes reporting requirements, documentation and record keeping/log maintenance, and the criteria for EOC deactivation.
The ITO course provides individuals the foundation required to technically manage and execute installation training and readiness programs. Emphasis is placed on preparing the ITO to develop a strategy to provide continuous evaluation of installation training inputs, processes and outputs to assess training effectiveness and to improve training quality.
The Crisis Action Planning Team Leader course prepares the crisis action team leader to validate and assess command, control and communications (C3) training effectiveness and to provide effective feedback to improve training quality and efficiency. The instruction provides the knowledge required to technically manage and execute C3 regional training and exercise programs.
The SFTC is completely compatible with the Navy Warfare Training System process and ensures the alignment of training to mission essential tasks to meet the needs of Navy installations. The SFTC will provide a training process that supports the Shore Response Training Plan. This process will first build a solid foundation of basic training that is conducted at the individual and unit level.
Then the SFTC will provide training opportunities with multiple units and installations that are integrated. Next, using the existing exercise schedules, training and assessment will be aggressively honed and evaluated. The complexity and tempo of the training are increased for certification and sustainment.
The overall aim of the SFTC is to help facilitate the Navy Emergency Management Program mission to serve as a force multiplier and service provider, as well as support the integration of the Navy's response to emergencies across the shore force enterprise.
This purpose is compatible with Commander, Navy Installations Command Vice Adm. Conway's desire to align the shore forces' functional responsibilities and processes to support the fleet, fighter and family.
While it is true that the SFTC will train personnel to provide support for civil authorities when required, its primary focus will be on ensuring that Navy installations are prepared to shelter Navy personnel and their families and to protect Navy property during times of catastrophic emergencies.
Capt. BJ Keepers is the shore response plan officer in CNIC N72.
Dr. Raymond Roll is the director of training for CNIC.