JOINT BASE CHARLESTON, S.C. –
FACT: A major emergency will befall the Lowcountry - it's only a matter of time. In just the last decade, the Charleston area has already stared down 16 tropical depressions, storms and hurricanes. What's less evident is how well we at Joint Base Charleston will react to a major emergency when it does occur.
With that in mind, JB Charleston leadership authorized the insightful purchase of a truly state-of-the-art mass-warning notification system that maintains the potential to reach out and touch every single member of our total force joint family, military and civilian alike, throughout the Lowcountry and beyond.
At a moment's notice, 24-hours a day, seven days a week, a 628th Air Base Wing Command Post controller can notify every single member of JB Charleston with the touch of a button ... literally! This technology-leveraging marvel calls itself AtHoc, which consists of four elements: Giant Voice for outdoor areas; Indoor Voice for indoor facilities (projected capability); Telephone Alerting System for phone calls or text alerts; and Software-Alert Systems for e-mail and 'pop-up' alerts. However, for all of its revolutionary capabilities, AtHoc suffers from one critical weak link - you and me. AtHoc can only use the contact information that the member - that's you and I - manually inputs into its confidential database.
While the system automatically creates a member's profile courtesy of our Internet Protocol Addresses, it cannot access our home phone, cell phone, or home e-mail address unless we update this vital information by clicking on the small purple globe icon located in the lower right section of your work's computer screen. From there, select "Access Self Service" and update the applicable information within the "My Info" and "Devices" tabs. If you're a slow typer and clicker like me, it may take you up to three minutes to accomplish. Three minutes drives a pretty good return on investment for the priceless capability to receive a timely warning regarding a threatening storm or other critically important update while you're off duty. Ultimately, JB Charleston's leadership aims to notify all of Team Charleston's members and their families during times of emergencies that require urgent attention, using multiple channels, to accelerate our threat response within 10 minutes of giving the order.
To add motivating fuel to the fire, Col. Richard McComb, JB Charleston commander, issued a directive Jan. 5, 2012 which mandates all personnel assigned to JB Charleston must complete this task by entering at least their work and home phone number. If you're "lucky" enough to warrant a government cell phone, enter that number too.
Through painful learning experiences that hardly need introductions - 9/11, Katrina, Hugo, Ft. Hood, Deepwater Horizon, Columbine, Virginia Tech, Joplin, etc. - the federal government and, by extension, the Department of Defense understand that a properly and efficiently coordinated prompt response to an existing or impending disaster is absolutely paramount to successfully preventing and mitigating damage. The dedicated professionals at the 628th Civil Engineer Emergency Management flight, the 628th Air Base Wing Command Post and the 437th Operations Support Squadron Weather flight have already made great strides in preparing our joint base as a National Weather Service - certified "Storm Ready." However, emergencies ram headlong into our peaceful daily routine in manners that extend far beyond nature's wrath so we must stand ready for all contingencies. AtHoc accounts for this.
Hopefully, we will never get the opportunity to put our emergency response procedures to the test, but to anyone who keeps up on current events, that's just not reality. So, in the meantime, while we wait ... do the responsible thing for yourself and your family and use the next three minutes of your life to register right now for AtHoc. Don't be the weak link.
For existing AtHoc-related questions, contact 628abw.athoc.help@us.af.mil.
(Some 315th Airlift Wing and Naval Weapons Station personnel are not currently enrolled in the JB Charleston AtHoc system, but are expected to be fully linked in within the coming months.)