Defense moved swiftly to aid in Gustav response

ALEXANDRIA, LA. -- As Hurricane Gustav raged worked its way through the Gulf of Mexico late last week, the Defense Department's Army North unit set up a high-tech operational command post at England Industrial Air Park here to coordinate military efforts to aid in the preparation for and response to the storm.

Though Gustav turned out to be more of a "wind event" -- as a local radio station put it -- than a devastating storm like Hurricane Katrina, Defense reacted quickly to build up forces to aid civil authorities in the event the storm had been more severe.

Army North, based at Fort Sam Houston, Texas, is the service's unit in charge of supporting civilian authorities in the United States. Col. Laverm Young, the command's Defense coordinating officer, who is deployed with the Federal Emergency Management Agency in Baton Rouge, La., said an improved communications package has made for a sharp difference between the responses to Gustav and Katrina, which hit the Gulf Coast three years ago.

Young said that when he deployed to Biloxi, Miss., after Katrina, he had only an Iridium satellite phone and a cell phone. This time around, Young's team came equipped with an emergency response vehicle with its own built-in satellite systems and radios capable of communicating with first responders and civil and military aircraft.

That capability came in handy during the weekend, Young said, when he and his team helped coordinate the airlift of more than 6,400 evacuees from New Orleans Lakefront Airport. He said that when the military and civil evacuation aircraft landed in New Orleans, the airport's control tower told them to contact Young on a ground control frequency quickly dialed up in his emergency vehicle.

The New Orleans evacuation had a little help from friends to the far north, Young said. The Canadian military dispatched one of its four-engine, Boeing-manufactured C-17 airlifters to help with the evacuation from New Orleans. Young said he and his team also helped coordinate almost 500 medical evacuation flights on helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft during the weekend.

Army North spokeswoman Patti Bielling said all the personnel and equipment for the operational command post arrived at noon Sunday aboard a C-5 Air Force cargo aircraft, more than a day before Gustav crossed the Gulf Coast. Army North has 70 of its personnel deployed to the post, along with 50 Air Force and Navy personnel.

Brig. Gen. Jeff Jacobs, an Army reservist from Columbia, S.C., heads the command post, which was set up at an old hangar at an Air Force base closed in 1992. He said that once in place, his command was ready to manage requests for assistance from civil authorities and pass them on to U.S. Northern Command in Colorado Springs, Colo., which has overall responsibility for Defense disaster response.

Lt. Col. William Darby, who serves as the command surgeon at the operational command post, said the Navy had the Norfolk, Va.-based USS Bataan amphibious assault ship on standby to provide medical support in the wake of Gustav, if needed. The Bataan has a 600-bed hospital and six operating rooms.

Air Force Maj. Sonny Stefancic, who deployed here from Tyndall Air Force Base in Panama City, Fla., said the Air Force Monday night launched a Global Hawk unmanned aerial vehicle aircraft operated by the 9th Reconnaissance Wing at Beale Air Force Base in California to gather aerial imagery of the Gulf Coast on Tuesday.

Stefancic said the nighttime launch allowed the Global Hawk to orbit the Gulf Coast during daylight hours Tuesday. The Global Hawk can remain aloft for 36 hours and flies at an altitude of 60,000 feet so it doesn't interfere with commercial aircraft.

Stefancic said imagery from the Global Hawk flight over the Gulf Coast will be made available to state and local officials through a secure Defense database and computer server.

Young said the primary Defense mission Tuesday as Gustav -- now downgraded to a tropical storm -- moves northwest is to conduct search-and-rescue missions. NORTHCOM said the Air Force 331st Search and Rescue Air Expeditionary Group will conduct such operations out of Jackson, Miss.; Ellington Field Joint Reserve Base, Texas; and Pensacola, Fla.

NORTHCOM also said it has designated two Louisiana facilities, Barksdale Air Force Base and the Army's Fort Polk, as the hubs for Defense logistical operations in support of civil authorities in the wake of Gustav.