OFFUTT AIR FORCE BASE, Neb. -- Tucked away behind secure doors inside the 55th Wing headquarters building is an office with the sole responsibility of keeping leadership and personnel apprised of important information.
From there, communications are received and disseminated 24 hours a day to radios, loud speakers, cell phones, computers and satellites. They involve everything from weather notifications and threat condition updates to situational reports and matters of national security. Every base has one and it is called the Command Post.
Those who manage this constant information flow are called emergency actions controllers and it is their job to make sure leadership has the information they need to direct military personnel and make informed decisions.
“We are managers of information,” said Tech. Sgt. Rachel Mead, 55th Wing Command Post senior emergency actions controller. “We take information, analyze it, and distribute it out to people and agencies that need to know.”
Together, Mead and a team of emergency actions controllers execute four core competencies.
The first competency is aircraft mission monitoring. This involves monitoring takeoffs, landings and aerial refueling of 55th Wing aircraft - controllers must know where 55th Wing assets are at all times.
The second is emergency actions control. Command post personnel at Offutt are trained to decode emergency actions messages used for posturing alert aircraft or forces in the event of a nuclear war or a contingency. Controllers must be prepared to analyze and disseminate this information at a moment’s notice. This requires constant testing and participation in practical exercises such as one that took place June 27. This exercise tested their ability to receive nuclear command and control messages via satellite from a mobile location.
“It has a side effect of providing us training, but ultimately it’s a higher headquarters directive to make sure that everything works as it’s supposed to work,” said Tech. Sgt. Brian Hussey, 55th Wing Command Post non-commissioned officer in charge of command and control systems.
The third core competency is operational reporting. Command post personnel are responsible for compiling information used to produce situational and operational reports on behalf of wing leadership. This is done for all significant events and operational actions.
The last area of competency is emergency management. This includes the coordination of communications between base leadership, emergency responders and higher headquarters in the event of a crisis such as an accident or natural disaster.
Most recently, the Command Post alerted base personnel when an EF1 tornado touched down on Offutt June 16. The controllers had just enough time to initiate the warnings and seek shelter.
“They had about a 30-second window to process the information and initiate the warnings,” said Senior Master Sgt. Olatokunbo Olopade, 55th Wing Command Post superintendent. “The tornado was actually coming down around building 458. They had to shelter in place to protect themselves from any danger, but they also had to maintain the nuclear command and control mission without any degradation.”
Once the weather passed, the controllers immediately began notifying base leadership to initiate the first response for base recovery efforts.
Olopade commended Staff Sgt. Mark Kimball and Airman 1st Class Alexis Chandler, the controllers on duty that night, for a job well done.
“They were the central hub of the response,” Olopade said. “They responded flawlessly without skipping a beat.”
Whenever an AtHoc alert is sent out or the tornado sirens are sounded on base, it is the emergency actions controllers who can be thanked. They stand ready at the nerve center of Offutt Air Force Base 24-hours-a-day, seven-days-a-week.