Rock Island Arsenal, Ill. - Representatives from U.S. Army Garrison Rock Island Arsenal and the Illinois Mutual Aid Box Alarm System (MABAS) were at the Pentagon yesterday to receive one of six 2023 Army Community Partnership Awards.
The awards recognize Army installations and their community partners for initiatives that improve Soldier and family quality of life, enhance readiness, contribute to modernization, improve cost efficiencies, expand capabilities, support Army priorities and strengthen local community relationships.
The ceremony was hosted by the Honorable Rachel Jacobson, Assistant Secretary of the United States Army Installations, Energy and Environment and Lt. Gen. Keven Vereen, Duputy Chief of Staff, G-9. Receiving the award for USAG Rock Island Arsenal was Col. Daniel Mitchell, USAG-RIA Garrison Commander, and Chief Joseph Heim of the RIA Fire Department. Donald Davids and Chief Glenn Ericksen represented MABAS, Illinois.
"Congratulations to the installations honored this year," said Lt. Gen. Kevin Vereen, deputy chief of staff, G-9. "These programs exemplify a dedication to building strong community ties and enhancing the quality of life for our Soldiers and their families."
MABAS is an Illinois statewide mutual aid response system for fire, Emergency Medical Services and specialized incident operational teams. Sharing the effort are representatives from the Office of the State Fire Marshal, Department of Public Health – EMS Division and Illinois Fire Chiefs Association. The system defines a resource response plan to any location within the state when required.
This partnership allows the Rock Island Arsenal Fire Department to request resources from across the State of Illinois when an event exceeds the capacity of our department through the MABAS agreement and mutual aid agreements with neighboring agencies and resources. Participation in MABAS provides RIA access to personnel from our supporting partners as well as a cache of tools and equipment strategically placed around the state.
This also allows our personnel to be requested to support neighboring agencies and provide mutual aid support to our partners that affords our department real world experience. According to the award submission, the RIA Fire Department responded to 345 fire incidents and 334 medical emergencies in communities surrounding the Arsenal in the year prior to submission.
Consequently, our fire personnel maintain proficiency on tasks they would otherwise not exercise on a regular basis. This builds vital real-world experience than cannot be learned in a classroom or training setting.
Our participation in this partnership has provided and received personnel and resource support to incidents ranging from support to Hurricane Katrina; HAZMAT incidents within the Joint Manufacturing and Technology Cener’s factory; technical rescues response including the multi-story apartment building collapse in Davenport, Iowa that made national news; a trench rescue in Cordova, Ill., and numerous rescues within the surrounding Mississippi River to include a worker falling into the river at the Army Corps of Engineers Lock and Dam.
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