FORT EUSTIS, Va. -- For most in disaster response work, opportunities to experience preparedness efforts through service in multiple agencies are rare. U.S. Army Col. Bill Stevenson, Maryland National Guard, is getting that chance while working at Joint Task Force -- Civil Support.
Stevenson, who has 35 years of experience in emergency management and response, works as the operations officer of a national Incident Management Assistance Team for the Federal Emergency Management Agency when not under National Guard duties.
For the past month, Stevenson has served in uniform at JTF-CS, where he worked in the Operations, Training and Readiness directorate. Prior to starting his duties here, the 56-year-old Lewes, Del., native, briefed JTF-CS and other federal and local disaster response and planning leaders on the role FEMA's incident management team plays in domestic disaster response operations.
JTF-CS oversees a 5,200-person domestic response force comprised of all military services. On order, these forces can provide a range of response capabilities, to include casualty decontamination, urban search and rescue, temporary hospitalization support, medical augmentation, veterinary support, patient staging and evacuation, medical logistics, alternate medical facilities, and exposure monitoring.
U.S. Army North, which conducts homeland defense, civil support operations and theater security cooperation activities, is the higher headquarters for JTF-CS. Army North is based at Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio, Texas.
"JTF-CS is one of the most readily available forces in CONUS," Stevenson said. "I'm gratified how closely aligned both forces are so we understand what each force is doing and how the pieces fit together."
After he briefed the command in February, Stevenson remained at JTF-CS, but swapped his blue FEMA polo for his Army combat uniform. He spent eight weeks coordinating with JTF-CS' "community of partners" -- the various federal, state and local military and civilian government agencies tasked to provide disaster response services.
Stevenson also assisted JTF-CS in streamlining its pre-scripted mission assignments used during the initial hours of a federal-level response in support of a state government following a catastrophic CBRN event. A mission assignment is a tasking from the Department of Defense to a responding DOD agency -- such as JTF-CS -- based on the needs of the supported state where the disaster has occurred.
Using pre-scripted mission assignments enables FEMA to request JTF-CS assistance sooner. Ultimately, that saves more lives, said Stevenson.
"We wanted to come down to link up with you guys so we can understand your mission, and you can understand our mission and how we're going to work together," Stevenson said. "We will be working together if there is an incident."
Stevenson has an extensive interest and personal investment in emergency response operations. He spent almost all of his youth at a local Delaware fire house because his father was a volunteer fire fighter. The fire house was very much a part of the social fabric in the Delaware town and made him want to become a fire fighter when he grew up.
"It's the instant gratification that you get from the job," said Stevenson. "You help someone; the job is done, and then you're moving on to the next mission."
Then, as now, he expanded his field of skills in this arena to become a county chief paramedic, then an emergency medical services director for the state of Delaware, and later the health preparedness director for the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
This is not the first time JTF-CS has worked with FEMA. Last August, JTF-CS oversaw multiple aerial surveillance missions in support of the Federal Emergency Management Agency's recovery efforts in North Carolina following the aftermath of Hurricane Irene.
Stevenson's IMAT has deployed with FEMA to numerous domestic and international disasters, ranging from the Hurricane Irene and the Haiti Earthquake to the Joplin, Mo., tornado and Operation Tomodachi in Japan. Stevenson described the damage following last year's tornados in Joplin, Mo., as "utter devastation" -- a transformation of small-town America into a post-apocalyptic view of leveled buildings and knocked over trees.
Those experiences turn into valuable lessons learned -- experience Stevenson can leverage while assisting JTF-CS become more efficient at what it does when called upon: save lives, prevent further injury and enable community recovery.
"We are continually evolving," Stevenson said. "We take the lessons learned and immediately plug them into new policy and direction."
Stevenson will retire from the military on June 1, 2012, but continue to serve his country at FEMA. He believes that there is still plenty of work to be done.
"I'm not done yet," he said. "There are still things I want to do and more that I want to contribute."
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