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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsWhen hurricanes destroy phone lines, the Guard enables communication
http://www.militarytimes.com/news/your-military/2017/09/21/when-a-hurricane-destroys-phone-lines-the-guard-enables-communication/When hurricanes destroy phone lines, the Guard enables communication
By: Tara Copp ? 15 hours ago
WASHINGTON ― Twenty-four hours after Hurricane Maria sent Puerto Rico into darkness, the first National Guard troops arrived, well-versed in how to handle the aftermath. Maria is their third Category 5 hurricane this month. The first 500 troops to respond were Puerto Rico National Guard forces activated in advance of the storm. On Thursday they conducted search and rescue missions and did route clearance, said Lt. Col. Jamie Davis, a Pentagon spokesman. The next wave will arrive with generators, helicopters and high-water vehicles. Much of that equipment was used in the National Guards response to Hurricane Harvey Aug. 25, and then Hurricane Irma Sept. 10. Then it was pre-positioned again to be ready for Maria. Weve learned a lot from [Hurricane] Katrina over the years, Air Force Gen. Joseph Lengyel, chief of staff of the National Guard, told defense reporters Monday.
One of the lessons learned was the value of bringing in deployable, civilian-friendly phone lines. Hurricane Maria destroyed Puerto Ricos electrical grid and downed most of its telephone wires. Getting some of that communication restored will depend on the Joint Incident Site Communications Capability. The JISCC is a 20-foot, tented communications system on a trailer, with its own generator and satellite dish. It can move to a storm location via a flatbed or a C-130.
Its normal for the military to deploy with its own communications systems. The problem is that those networks are often closed off from non-military phone calls. With the JISCC, the system is so flexible, that a county sheriff on his personal cell phone can call up a military commander who is using his standard military radio system, said Army Col. Les Melnyk, a spokesman for the Guard. This is facilitated by radio cross-banding and is a unique capability of the JISCC.
We can bring these systems into a disaster response area, where maybe the cell phone networks have been taken out, and we can establish a network for people to be able to communicate, Lengyel said.
(snip)
The Guard had six JISCCs in use for its Hurricane Harvey response and 12 for Irma. Puerto Ricos National Guard had two on the island, which they took down to protect them before Maria hit but they will be up and running soon, Melnyk said. The Guard Bureau is also coordinating to have six more JISCCs sent to Puerto Rico, two each for airfield operations, a joint force headquarters and two to support U.S. Marines operating there from the nearby amphibious assault ships Wasp and Kearsarge, which remained in the area following Hurricane Irma. Aircraft from those ships also conducted their first search and rescue operations early Thursday, Davis said.
(snip)
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When hurricanes destroy phone lines, the Guard enables communication (Original Post)
nitpicker
Sep 2017
OP
It's likely a lot of National Guard units will be doing their 2 weeks annual training down there
Lurks Often
Sep 2017
#1
Lurks Often
(5,455 posts)1. It's likely a lot of National Guard units will be doing their 2 weeks annual training down there
If not in Puerto Rico or Florida & Texas, then quite possibly in some of the other Caribbean nations that were hit by the hurricanes.
I can definitely see engineer units and possibly military police units being deployed.
IronLionZion
(45,523 posts)4. We're going to have more of this
the top general of the NGB recognizes the need to have more NG troops trained up and ready to deal with hurricanes in the gulf and Caribbean areas
Blue_Tires
(55,445 posts)2. Seriously... Fuck this idiot:
Sunlei
(22,651 posts)3. important that everyone has a working cell phone & a place to charge their phone. communication.