Offutt, community ready for crisis situation

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. James M. Hodgman
  • 55th Wing Public Affairs
OFFUTT AIR FORCE BASE, Neb. --  Offutt presented its annual defense support for civilian authorities briefing Nov. 24 at the Bellevue Public Schools Support Center in Bellevue, Neb., further demonstrating the close bond between the base and the civilian community.

The briefing was attended by Offutt's senior leaders and representatives from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, U.S. Navy, U.S. Army, U.S. Strategic Command, National Weather Service, local law enforcement and emergency management officials, explained how Department of Defense agencies support civilian agencies during a crisis or emergency situation.

Col. John T. Rauch, 55th Wing vice commander, said Offutt is ready to respond to these situations if called upon, due in large part because of the relationship Offutt has with the local community.

"We enjoy a great relationship with the local community and that is immensely important," Colonel Rauch said. "Team Offutt is always looking to improve coordination with the local community to ensure we are prepared to respond together to a natural disaster or crisis situation."

Supporting the local community and ensuring Offutt is ready to respond to emergency situations is a yearlong effort, said Rhonda L. Woolridge, chief of emergency management for the 55th Civil Engineer Squadron.

"We meet monthly with emergency management representatives from Sarpy, Douglas and Washington counties, as well as community representatives from Bellevue, Ralston and other cities," Ms. Woolridge said.

Ms. Woolridge also stressed her staff meets with local emergency personnel to ensure everyone is working toward the same goal; preparing all communities to be ready in case something happens.

"We need to foster these relationships so that we know what skills and capabilities everyone brings, and what processes we need to go through to get the support necessary should it be needed," she said.

A large percentage of Offutt personnel reside in the local community, so Offutt's awareness of their plans and capabilities is important, Ms. Woolridge added.

John W. Stacey, chief of police for the Bellevue Police Department, said the support Offutt has given to Bellevue has been incredible.

"We are very fortunate to have the capability to request Offutt's bomb dogs for bomb scares or to detect possible explosives," Chief Stacey said. "To have the capability to summon bomb dogs from Offutt has been very productive, with the quick response and the level of training the dogs have, we have been able to mitigate situations in minutes rather than hours."

Chief Stacey also mentioned that Bellevue and the local community show a great deal of support for Offutt as well.

The local community comes together to support Offutt for big events like the open house and air show, fourth of July celebration and protests, he said.

"It's all hands on deck for the air show," he explained. "The air show takes all of our resources and we borrow from the state patrol, country sheriff, as well as the Papillion, LaVista and Omaha Police Departments."

While the briefing explained how Offutt and local communities support one another, it also featured something a little extra special.

Two representatives from the NWS attended the event and presented Offutt with a Storm Ready certificate of achievement. Storm Ready, is a national community preparedness program that uses a grassroots approach to help communities develop plans to handle severe weather. The program encourages communities to take a new, proactive approach to improving local hazardous weather operations.

Offutt became only the third Air Force installation to earn the certification.

The base met and on many levels surpassed the criteria for the award, said Brian E. Smith, a warning coordination meteorologist with the NWS.

Some of the capabilities Offutt had to have to receive Storm Ready certification were the ability to issue 24-hour warnings and disseminate those messages throughout the base, a hazard weather plan in place and have the necessary infrastructure to mitigate threats when responding to emergencies, Mr. Smith added.

Being Storm Ready is something to be very proud of, Ms. Woolridge said.

"Earning the certificate of achievement was pretty cool," she said, "it's like Offutt's emergency management (personnel) have set a standard for other bases to reach."

Ms. Woolridge also said the honor validates the hard work Offutt's Emergency Management Office puts forth every day.

"Earning the award was an acknowledgement of all the work that goes into preparing the plan for severe weather and striving to educate the base populace," she said. "So many people have no idea that we work on severe weather, as well as hazardous materials, terror threats and many other issues. At least with Storm Ready, folks will know that there are plans and processes to deal with severe weather."

While she's happy with Offutt's success so far, Ms. Woolridge emphasized, Offutt will continue to improve its emergency response capability.

Pursuing Storm Ready certification has forged bonds and relationships with the weather service and provided some of Offutt's agencies a different view of the NWS, Ms. Woolridge explained.

"The program has also opened doors and established a peer review to ensure that our severe weather preparedness and education stays on track so that when we re-evaluate (the program) in three years, it will be even stronger," she said.

For more information about the NWS Storm Ready program, visit www.stormready.noaa.gov.