It's a scenario that emergency responders in Hawaii hope will never happen. A Category 4 hurricane with winds exceeding 135 miles per hour and a storm surge of 15 feet aimed directly at Oahu's southern shore. But, it's an event that experts believe will happen sometime in the future and officials want to be as prepared as possible.
Local, state and federal agencies tested their plans, readiness and abilities during an annual hurricane exercise dubbed "Makani Pahili 2009" held June 2-4 in Honolulu.
Makani Pahili 2009 was an interagency exercise designed to test the coordinated efforts among all levels of government and private sector organizations. "Given the isolation of the island chain, we have to have dependency and reliance on each other so we can sustain and maintain life support for our residents following a disaster," said Col. James George, 196th Infantry Brigade commander at Fort Shafter. In support of Joint Task Force Homeland Defense, Colonel George also serves as the Defense Coordinating Officer for Hawaii.
Playing a pivotal role were members of two Defense Coordinating Elements, an organization whose mission is to support the state and local communities prepare and respond to hurricanes or other disasters by coordinating requests for military assistance.
This exercise brought together members of the 196th Infantry Brigade, serving as DCE in Hawaii, with members of the Region IX DCE from Oakland, Calif. They coordinated their efforts with one another and through the FEMA Region IX Regional Response Coordination Center back in Oakland. The joint and interagency efforts at both locations included support from Army, Air Force, Navy, Marine Emergency Preparedness Liaison
Officers and personnel from all key federal agencies.
The exercise was designed to test agencies to their limits and beyond. "We need to find out what our weaknesses are and use that information to build our ability to respond in the event of a real disaster," George said. "We don't want to wait until an actual event occurs and then determine we don't have the resources to respond."
This training opportunity allowed U.S. Pacific Command and U.S. Northern Command to synchronize operations much as they would during an actual event when they would each activate their respective DCO/Es.
During a disaster in the Pacific, the NORTHCOM DCO/E will operate from the Oakland RRCC and facilitate communications and mission assignment processing until the Joint Field Office becomes operational, according to Lt. Col. Paul Gault, Reg. IX Deputy DCO.
"This was the first major opportunity we had to test a newly designed coordination concept of how our team in Oakland will support FEMA and the efforts of military forces responding to a catastrophic disaster in the PACOM Area of Operations" said Col. Mark Armstrong, Defense Coordinating Officer for Region IX.
"Similar challenges exist in the PACOM AOR as in NORTHCOM, when operating in the DSCA arena both higher headquarters communicate on the (classified) side adding a level of difficulty for the DCE to pass information to civilian agencies," Gault said.
This year's scenario called for substantial damage not only to civilian property, but to military assets. This situation tested the military's ability, capabilities and resources to handle situations within its property boundaries while at the same time providing Defense Support of Civil Authorities.
The exercise was a tremendous success for all participants.
Key members of the Oakland based DCE deployed to Hawaii to observe and help train the Hawaii DCO/E. "We had a rare opportunity to coach, teach and mentor another DCO/E," Gault said. "We gained a different insight on doing our job and were able to discover many best practices and improve upon others."
The primary federal agency, FEMA, and the state of Hawaii along with all the other participating federal and state agencies had a unique opportunity during this exercise to validate the newly updated Hawaii Catastrophic Hurricane operational plan.
The exercise validated years of cooperation and rapport developed between the DCEs and interagency partners at federal, state and local level. This relationship will benefit the people of Hawaii should military assistance ever be needed during a DSCA event.
Hurricane season began June 1 and continues through November 30. The National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration predicts the Pacific can expect 13 to 18 named storms with six to 10 hurricanes, of which two to five could be major hurricanes in 2009.
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