FORT NOVOSEL, AL -- Teamwork, community and continual improvement were the focus of an installation-wide tornado response and recovery exercise August 30 here that tested many agencies on post.
“Our team here is a team of professionals,” said Col. John Miller, Fort Novosel Garrison Commander, “They are focused on ensuring that we execute all of our duties to the absolute best standard possible.”
“And just like professional athletes, once the game is over, once the exercise is over, we review everything we did to make sure that we performed to standard,” he added, “And if we didn’t, then we know how to improve for the next exercise, so we are ready when an actual event occurs.”
Miller said that knowing the history of the area shows the garrison how to train for real-world weather incidents.
“This exercise helps us to ensure that our agencies and tenant organizations are prepared to respond in the event of an emergency or natural disaster,” he said, “There have been tornado incidents across the Wiregrass area in the past that have caused damage to Fort Novosel. All of the exercises are focused on ensuring that we know how to respond to those types of incidents in our efforts to safeguard both our community on Fort Novosel as well as the surrounding communities in the Wiregrass.”
Disaster can strike at any time, said Miller, and being prepared for many different situations is key.
“The exercises are scheduled throughout the year to make sure that we remain ready at all times. We conduct exercises in a way that tests all the different systems and agencies. So, this exercise is focused on tornado preparedness, we may focus later on hurricane preparedness or other types of situations that our agencies and professionals on post may encounter.”
Miller added that the post is not an island, and the Fort Novosel community spreads throughout the Wiregrass.
”We make sure that we incorporate all of our local communities. We have mutual support agreements with our local communities so in the event that we have a service that we can provide to the local community, or vice-versa, we work together as partners in the Wiregrass. So, we incorporated elements from Coffee and Dale County to ensure that we have that connection with their emergency medical services.”
Social Sharing