National Guard Bureau
Public Affairs Staff
(5/21/2007) - Members of a new National Guard
team designed to streamline information about disasters in this country
to the American people rolled into the Muscatatuck Urban Training
Center in southern Indiana on May 8 to take part in the Indiana
National Guard's training exercise Vigilant Guard.
The Soldiers and Airmen of the National Guard
Bureau's Public Affairs Rapid Response Team (PARRT) convoyed from
Arlington, Va., in dark blue trucks towing desert tan trailers to
participate in the exercise based on a simulated 10-kiloton nuclear
detonation.
The goal of the PARRT is to assist the command
and control and communications packages of the state. This is the first
major exercise for the team, whose concept evolved after Hurricane
Katrina, as a means to assist the 54 states and territories in their
homeland security missions.
"The PARRT can provide a fully operational
media center, which includes a satellite link for internet, multimedia
and telephone communications," said Lt. Col. Nahaku McFadden,
PARRT chief.
McFadden said the unit is self-sustaining and can
serve as a hub for local, national and international media to obtain
information about responders, get credentials, send information, and
access subject matter experts. In addition, the team's journalists,
videographers and photographers work with local responders to document
the events.
The team is a fully functional mobile public
affairs unit. Its numbers can range from one initial responder to
nearly 70 public affairs professionals as requested by a state. The
PARRT is augmented by volunteer and active duty Guard members. The
team's mobile equipment allows it to sustain its operations for 15
days.
The team can respond in 24 hours as part of the
Guard's Joint Enabling Team (JET) which deploys representatives of the
Guard Bureau's joint headquarters to immediately assess state needs for
assistance. From there, requests can be made to deploy the full PARRT
response package in 24 hours.
That "package" consists of three
deployable rapid assembly shelters (DRASH), towed tent/generator
systems which are climate controlled and have been outfitted with the
latest electronic gear to allow for full operation of a Joint
Information Center.
According to McFadden, the DRASH systems
performed better than expected. However, there are plenty of lessons
learned that will be incorporated into future operations.
"The DRASH system was very simple to set up
and configure to our needs," said McFadden. "We were fully
operational in a few hours and were very successful in getting stories
and photos to the Guard Bureau and others as needed while the exercise
was unfolding."
Part of that success came from the addition of
state of the art satellite and media monitoring systems loaned to the
National Guard for the Vigilant Guard exercise.
"The equipment SpecOps Inc. (a Richmond VA
based firm specializing in command and control systems) allowed us to
test, far exceeded our expectations and greatly enhanced our overall
mission effectiveness," added McFadden.
McFadden said public affairs can provide a
crucial resource in disaster areas because it can send and receive
public information in areas where telephone and internet systems may be
down. "We will be able to communicate and relay information to
command and control elements, monitor news channels and inform key
leadership about what is happening."
Public affairs assets can also be pre-positioned
for emergencies such as hurricanes, decreasing the response time.
The unit currently has nearly 100 stand-by
volunteers from all 54 states and territories as well as Soldiers,
Airmen and civilians at the Guard Bureau ready to respond at a moments
notice.
In Indiana, the 11-member team set up their tents
and generators and joined public affairs people from Indiana, Kentucky,
Missouri, Illinois and Ohio as well as visual information Airmen from
the Air National Guard Readiness Center at Andrews Air Force, Md. Some
75 Guard public affairs people worked the Vigilant Guard exercise.
"This was our first big test, so to speak
our first big exercise, and we participated as a fully-capable
team," McFadden said. "We now have some great lessons learned
that will be reviewed and implemented, making us better prepared to
respond to the next crisis."
