JOINT BASE CHARLESTON, S.C. –
Early projections of Hurricane Irma showed the potential for a direct impact to Joint Base Charleston, forcing an evacuation of base members on Sept. 8.
Along with its base members, JB Charleston also safely evacuated 22 C-17 Globemaster IIIs and diverted eight others to safe haven locations to continue real-world missions.
"At the time I issued the limited evacuation order, Hurricane Irma's projected path was towards South Carolina and Georgia and we were trying to prepare for the worst-case situation. I understand that it is a difficult process to evacuate, but safety is not negotiable," said Col. Jeff Nelson, 628th Air Base Wing commander.
The decision to continue the evacuation when Irma changed to a more westerly course was made based on the uncertainty of the track of the storm and because there was only one chance to cancel the evacuation order, Nelson said.
"It would have been very difficult to re-implement an evacuation once canceled if the storm changed course back toward Charleston. I was not comfortable risking the confusion that would ensue if that happened," said Nelson.
Although the installation's aircraft were also evacuated, worldwide operations still continued. Because of this, the 437th Airlift Wing prioritized evacuating the C-17s on-station to safe haven locations, and then capitalized on their 'deployed' forces, making them available for taskings to provide aid and assistance.
"Our rapid global mobility is fueled by our ability to provide assistance anytime, anyplace. Our Airmen kept the mobility machine moving operating from safe haven locations not only to respond to disaster relief missions, but other world-wide warfighting missions as well. This all happens because of the hard work our Airmen put into it. A huge thank you to our professional corps of aircrew, maintainers and support services that allow us to do what we do best," said Col. Jimmy Canlas, 437th AW commander.
Before the evacuation order was issued, JB Charleston was prepared for Irma because of efficient planning by many units on base, to include the work of the Emergency Operations Center.
“The EOC is the support element directing, monitoring and supporting the installation’s actions before, during and after an incident,” said Lt. Col. Christopher Carnduff, 628th Civil Engineer Squadron commander and EOC director. “It’s a focal point for support operations to sustain response activities and restore mission capabilities.”
During the hurricane, assigned members of specific units stayed behind as part of the “ride-out” team to ensure everything at the home-station was maintained.
“The ‘ride-out’ team included wing staff, judge’s advocate, public affairs, civil engineer squadron, fire department, force support and other crucial units,” said Carnduff. “The ride out teams were instrumental during the storm. They ensured the safety of JB Charleston and its assets and were key in returning the base to fully mission capable.”
After the storm passed and military members had returned, the 628th CES continued their cleanup missions and repairing damage swiftly.
“Cleanup started before the hurricane was over,” said Andrew Dean, 628th CES. When wind speeds dropped, we sent crews out to assess damage. When the rain and wind slowed to under 20 miles per hour, we began initial cleanup.”
Power restoration was priority number one. Full restorations began on Sept. 12, and JB Charleston is expected to be back at 100% power by Sept. 15 at noon.
“The [Air Base's] main mission revolves around flying planes and if we can’t fly due to tree limbs and power outages, we don’t have a mission,” said Dean. “To get everything back to 100% is vital because if the planes aren’t here we’re affecting something much bigger than ourselves.”
A total of 60 CE Airmen were part of the cleanup crew, 32 on the Air Base and 28 on the Weapons Station. Cleanup efforts required CE members to go back to the basics of their training; they’re not often cutting down trees and clearing roads. There were also different CE shops helping the heavy equipment crew be more efficient.
“Some stuff they had to recall from their tech school training,” said Dean. “Teamwork played a big part in CE’s cleanup efforts, with HVAC, the dirt boys and heavy equipment all working together to get the job done. People were going out of their element to help the mission.”
Leadership knows evacuating can be hard on JB Charleston members, but the safety of base personnel comes before everything else.
“Evacuating isn’t easy. Packing, planning, securing belongings and ensuring you have a place to go is hard and we understand that,” said Nelson.
Motivating the decision to evacuate the base, said Nelson, was the safety of our service members and their families.
“We understand it was difficult, but I’d like to thank all of our service members and their families for their patience and support as the storm bore down on Charleston,” said Nelson. “With everyone back, it’s time to identify where we can improve, cleanup our facilities and press forward with operations.”