Historically, Wright-Patterson’s primary Emergency Operations Center has been located in Bldg. 22, Area A, while the alternate facility was located in Bldg. 1416 also on Area A.
According to David Frank, 788th Civil Engineering Squadron, Emergency Management Flight chief, this created the potential for a loss in service.
“The two facilities, both located in Area A, were too close together,” said Frank. “Not only because of the physical separation of the two areas but because of the numerous special events that occur in Area B.”
Bldg. 615 in Area B was initially scheduled for demolition in 2015 at the same time Frank’s team was scouting an alternate location for an Emergency Operations Center in Area B.
“Bldg. 615 is located near the top of the accelerated runway, and it has a great, over-all view of Area B,” Frank said.
The Emergency Management Flight put in a request to have the building restored in February 2015. A short time after, the request was approved and the building was turned over to the Emergency Management Flight.
In the initial phase of redesign, it was imperative to fix everything aesthetically wrong, such as the carpet, wall repair, along with the much more important sprinkler system. The repairs were completed well ahead of schedule.
“Civil Engineering completed the redesign in two years,” Frank said. “The U.S. Air Force Marathon held Sept. 16, 2017, was first time using the alternate facility in real time.”
According to emergency management regulations, the primary and alternate Emergency Operations Center sites must have the exact same capabilities.
The new facility houses more than the alternate Emergency Operations Center. It is also the alternate location for the alternate Civil Engineer Group Control Center and the Emergency Management Environmental Control System. The Environmental Management Control System monitors activity on base, 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
“The Emergency Operations Center is a multi-functional coordinating agency that is covered in presidential directive #5,” Frank said. “The directive ensures all military, local counties and government agencies use the same terminology in time of crisis. It also includes guidance on funding, mutual aid and outlines the types of command structure based on the size and complexities at the incident scene.”
The Emergency Operations Center directly supports the incident commander and is capable of supporting multiple incidents simultaneously.
Emergency Support Functions are grouped into organizational structures that provide the support, resource, program implementation and services most likely to be needed during an incident. The use of Emergency Support Functions follow Air Force Instruction 10-2501 and are consistent with the national emergency management framework across Department of Defense, state and local organizations.
“The Emergency Operations Center is just a facility,” Frank said. “It is in place to mitigate, manage and support resources for the commander. It houses the people with the talent to come together with different skill sets in one place. It’s the intellectual equity of the people we have within the Emergency Operations Center that make it work.”
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