DOBBINS AIR FORCE BASE, Marietta, Ga., Jan. 19, 2012 – The Defense Coordination Element (DCE) for FEMA Region IV practiced loading a C-5 here today as part of its readiness preparation for rapid deployment in emergency response.
The DCE supports an eight-state region and is responsible for deploying and representing the Department of Defense in disaster areas. By providing liaisons to state, local, and other federal agencies, the DCE can validate mission assignments and facilitate resource requests to the Federal Coordinating Officer who will ultimately determine the best military resource for the mission.
The DCE also helps provide command and control of deployed DoD forces.
“We have to be ready to deploy anywhere for disaster response. The missions may take us out of state or to a location that’s too far away to drive, so we’re responsible for disaster response in our nation and territories,” said Smitty Bell, the Logistics Section Chief for FEMA Region IV. “The DCE is very important because they have a lot of assets and resources that FEMA does not have or can not contract commercially, particularly in helicopter, engineering, and logistics operations and manpower. So they bring a lot to the table as a joint partnership in disaster response.”
To enhance the DCE’s disaster response capability, the unit chose to practice loading on the C-5 airframe, which was originally property of Lockheed Martin. The Soldiers were instructed on the importance of center of balance, capturing measurements of the equipment, and inspecting the equipment. This training also included instruction on how to guide the vehicle onto the aircraft, as the DCE might not always have access to a C-5.
“This is an opportunity for us to configure our vehicles for a possible air load if we ever needed to do that,” said Col. Barrett Homes, the Defense Coordinating Officer for FEMA Region IV. “This is the first time we have had a chance to air load our equipment, so it is a great opportunity and we are definitely finding out some good lessons learned if we ever need to move by air in the future.”
Story and photo by 1st Lt. Mike Thompson
Georgia Army National Guard
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