CHARLESTON AIR FORCE BASE, S.C. –
The Air Force places significant emphasis on our ability to continue the mission regardless of the environment around us. In combat, this is commonly known as ATSO, for ability to survive and operate. We plan and train for various threats such as chemical, biological and radiological as well as conventional explosives and small arms fire. We wear and use personal protective equipment, know how to secure our facilities and employ various methods to protect our weapon systems. This past August, we excelled at demonstrating our ability to survive and operate during our operational readiness inspection. More significantly, many of you have taken these skills and knowledge with you when deploying to various locations around the globe.
Here at Charleston AFB, we continue to plan and train for a multitude of potential threats to the base and our mission. These include industrial accidents, hazardous material releases and terrorist attacks as well as natural disasters such as earthquakes and hurricanes. Our emergency management professionals and first responders are working together to ensure processes and equipment are ready to respond to and recover from incidents. Facility managers are ensuring supplies are available to support shelter-in-place requirements. Our families have built emergency supply kits and identified travel arrangements and destinations in case we have to evacuate. We are now conducting base-wide exercises to test our plans and processes in preparation for an emergency management inspection when the Air Mobility Command inspector general arrives in May for the unit compliance inspection.
The key to success in any of these scenarios is always people. The equipment and supplies are worthless without the knowledge, decisions and actions of everyone involved in the incident or event. I am proud of our past successes and know Charleston AFB will excel during the upcoming inspection as well as be effective if we ever have to respond to a real-world incident.
Over the past year, I have represented the base at several meetings for the Community and Regional Resilience Institute Tri-County Advisory Group. The objective of the group is to determine how the entire Charleston region can enhance its resilience. In other words, how can this community anticipate, respond to and recover from significant disturbances such as earthquakes or hurricanes. The concern is the longer it takes for utilities and basic services to return, for businesses and schools to reopen and for people to return to their homes, the greater the risk for community failure. This effort is focusing on infrastructure and transportation requirements, communication capabilities, supply chain networks, emergency shelters and the role of non-governmental organizations such as churches and neighborhood organizations. The objective is to recover from a disaster and resume normal operations as soon as possible.
As with our own ability to survive and operate, the key to community resilience will be its people. If individuals and families are better prepared for potential disasters and able to respond effectively, then their communities will also respond more effectively. As a significant presence in the local communities, the men and women of Charleston AFB have an opportunity to share our knowledge and experience with our family, friends and neighbors and encourage each of them to be more resilient. Help them develop family emergency and evacuation plans and identify appropriate supplies. Discuss these issues in your neighborhoods and other social networks. By starting with individual and family resilience, our community and region can positively and effectively respond to and recover from disasters and other disturbances.