PETERSON AIR FORCE BASE, Colo. – Eleven senior enlisted leaders heavily involved in the military’s relief efforts for Hurricanes Katrina and Rita united at U.S. Northern Command headquarters here Oct. 19 to share lessons learned in an effort to enhance procedures the next time the military is called to assist civil authorities.
The roundtable provided senior enlisted leaders from the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines and Coast Guard the opportunity to share their successes and challenges while conducting hurricane recovery and relief operations. For Katrina alone, the military effort included 350 helicopters, more than 80 airplanes, nearly 75,000 National Guard and active-duty troops and 50 ships. Using those people and that equipment, the military evacuated more than 60,000 people to safety.
“This is a wonderful deal we just did," said USNORTHCOM deputy commander Lt. Gen. Joseph Inge during his welcoming remarks. "We were there helping people, saving lives and bringing back order.”
The meeting was arranged to ensure the senior enlisted leaders understood USNORTHCOM’s role as the Department of Defense’s lead for defense support to civil authorities, to share lessons learned and foster relationships, said roundtable facilitator Sgt. Maj. D. Scott Frye, USNORTHCOM and North American Aerospace Defense Command senior enlisted advisor.
Following USNORTHCOM operations, logistics and legal briefings, the attendees got down to the business at hand.
The presentations “served to educate and stimulate people for the rest of the day” and the dialog that followed was a “thorough form of discourse that had to do with who we all are, how we are all trained, organized and equipped,” Frye said.
Frye noted that it was important for “the very same guys I saw on the ground in Texas, Mississippi and Louisiana” to act on the lessons learned that will benefit the U.S. citizens during their times of need.
“A lot of things went right, and we want to highlight those things,” said Headquarters First Army Command Sgt. Maj. Marvin Hill, who served as the Joint Task Force – Katrina command sergeant major. Hill described evacuating 20,000 people in 24 hours from both the convention center and the Superdome in New Orleans: “That’s success.”
"But we also want to see ourselves and see where we need to improve our systems,” Hill said. “Systems are the things that will outlive us ... the NORTHCOM Sergeant Major can fix some things, but if he doesn’t fix the system that change will leave when he leaves.”
Hill is convinced: “If we have to do it again, we’ll do it better … more efficient.”
Command Chief Master Sgt. Allen Usry, Headquarters First Air Force and Continental U.S. North American Aerospace Defense Command Region, agrees.
“I think across the board the response was phenomenal, but the simple fact of the matter is there are things (we could do better),” he said. “A lot of the hurdles we encountered during our heroic response to Katrina won’t be quite so high next time.”
The roundtable also provided an opportunity to discuss the “differences and likenesses of our services” and how each service operates, said National Guard Bureau Senior Enlisted Advisor Command Sgt. Major John Leonard.
“We’ve been talking about what we did well, what we didn’t do well and taken advantage of each other’s shortcomings and strengths,” Leonard said. “If we are faced with the issues that baffled us (during Katrina and Rita), we will now know how to handle them.”
But the biggest benefit of the meeting, Frye said, would result from the relationships made during the day.
“There’s nothing more powerful than being able to pick up the phone and talk to somebody you know, understand and trust,” Frye said. “Being able to use those pre-formed relationships in order to meet challenges in the future … that’s the magic of what happens when you bring folks like this (together). These are powerful guys, they walk directly to the left, right and center of their bosses during tough times.”
Although some larger states, like Florida and Texas, may be able may be able to take care of themselves during hurricanes and other disasters, there are many states that want to know who “they can reach out and touch,” Frye said.
While this roundtable focused on hurricane support, Frye is confident these leaders are better prepared for whatever the future may bring.
“We had some dialog that convinced me that no one is getting tunnel vision or being distracted from the fact that we still live in some challenging times and that there are still bad people out there trying to do bad things to us,” Frye said. “These guys know how we can help them in a storm, but they also know how we can help them across the spectrum of threats that face us today.”