Soldiers fuel vehicles so that they can move to the mock hurricane site in Savannah at the RSOI site at Robins Air Force Base in Warner Robbins, March 8, 2008. The Air Guard facilities at Robins serve as a central hub for units moving South in case of a hurricane. (Georgia National Guard photo by Spc. Amanda Kenny)

Georgia National Guard

Public Affairs Office

 A three-day exercise of the Georgia National Guard’s hurricane plan to test its logistics, communications and planning was termed a success Sunday, March 9, 2008, by Georgia’s Adjutant General.

 Major Gen. Terry Nesbitt, addressing more than 150 senior staff and exercise participants, at an After Action Review, declared that “This was a great experience for us in which to recognize our strengths and to identify our weaknesses. If we’re able to identify critical weaknesses in our processes, then I feel we’ve fulfilled the purpose of the exercise.” Overall, more than 300 Georgia Army and Air Guardsmen, and members of the Georgia State Defense Force participated in HURREX 08.

The primary focus of the exercise was to test the operation of the newly completed Joint Operations Center (JOC) at Marietta’s Dobbins Air Reserve Base. Completely redesigned over the past three months, the JOC was the epicenter of all activities for the statewide exercise. The new high-tech center provided a highly functional and efficient environment to control the many moving parts of the HURREX.

 Across town at Decatur’s 78th Troop Command, the Joint Task Force-Georgia Tactical Operations Center (TOC) received taskings from the Dobbins center, and then assumed the responsibility of moving convoys, personnel and resources to staging sites and then "downrange" to the affected areas.

 At Robins Air Force Base in Warner Robins, Air Guard Capt. Jay Elliott, a logistics officer with the 116th Air Control Wing, worked as “mayor” of the Joint Reception Staging Onward movement and Integration (JRSOI) site. Elliott said that, “this is a joint effort between the Army, Air and civilians. We want to ensure that, if a hurricane hits the Georgia coast, we can avoid any communications and logistics mistakes.

“Also, we want to make sure we have the right tools and expectations on timing. We can only do that with practice,” he added.

Hurricane Katrina influenced Georgia’s annual hurricane exercise, Elliot explained. The state, he said, doesn’t want to repeat the mistakes made in that disaster. So it has taken the initiative to do everything it can with its assets. “Then, if the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) or the Georgia Emergency Management Agency (GEMA) want to augment they can,” Elliot said.

When the convoys arrived at Robins AFB, vehicles needing commodities loaded -- such ice or water -- were fueled first.

Specialist Douglas Bell, a combat medic with Joint Force Medical Command, gives a shot to a Soldier who is headed down range for mock Hurricane Sierra at the JRSOI site at Robins Air Force Base.. (Georgia National Guard Photo)

Simultaneously, troops were put through an extensive administrative and medical screening to make sure their paperwork was in order, and their health issues identified and taken care of before being deployed “down range” to the storm-ravaged coastal area. “Every Soldier must process through this center and get into the hurricane database,” said Master Sgt. Roland Cheeks, noncommissioned officer-in-charge of the JRSOIs’ personal center. “Once they’re in the database, we can give them their orders and get them going.”

"After their orders are cut and their identification cards and ID tags are verified, the Soldiers go to medical,” said Cheeks. “At the medical area they’re screened to see if they need vaccinations or need to see a doctor. From there, they move to a legal briefing, and then they and t their unit head out for their assignment.”

Joint Task Force 781st CERF-P from Kennesaw was used as the “time-test” unit to see how long it would take to get Soldiers through the JRSOI and down to the coast.

“Cooperation between Air and Army Guard has been monumental,” said Elliott. “People, equipment and information moved with very little problem.”

About the JRSOI, he noted that, “This site can also be used to send assets to other states if Savannah and the coastal communities aren’t the impact site. “It was through here (the JRSOI), for example, that the 116th Air Control Wing sent several people to support Katrina in 2005. 

It wasn’t only Guardsmen who made things work during HURREX 08. The Georgia State Defense Force also played a vital role in its success. State Defense Force personnel at the JRSOI, for example, provided traffic control inside and outside the site, making sure convoys of fuel, ice, water and other necessities were speedily sent to their destinations.

“We provide support to the Guard as well as to the federal and state emergency management agencies,” said 1st Lt. Ron Simmons, plans and operations officer for the GSDF’s 5th Battalion. “Our people not only were at the RSOI site, but at armories across the state, at the Dobbins JOC and at the JTF-Georgia TOC helping get the Guard deploy.”

Observing the exercise as guests of the Defense Support to Civilian Authorities (DSCA) were Brig. Gen. Fran G. Mahon, deputy commanding general USARNORTH and 5th ARMY, and Phil May, director FEMA Region IV. Mahon and May visited Nesbitt and viewed the operations of the JOC and the Decatur TOC.

In his concluding remarks, Nesbit told his senior staff that, "We must always train as we fight, but also we must do the same in our day-to-day operations.” Moreover, he noted the importance of the “adaptive battle staff concept” used for the first time during this exercise, and encouraged additional training throughout the agency in that model.

General Nesbitt also indicated that he would favor making HURREX 09 more intensive by inviting other agencies to participate and by lengthening the exercise period.

Specialist Amanda Kenny, Lt. Col. Ken Baldowski and retired Lt. Col. Jim Driscoll contributed to this story.

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