Photo By Master Sgt. Roland Sturm | Air Force Maj. Christopher Zell, the director of operations of the 181st...... read more read more
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CAMP ATTERBURY JOINT MANEUVER TRAINING CENTER, Ind. -- Airmen from the 181st Intelligence Wing’s Communications Flight deployed equipment and personnel to operate the Joint Incident Site Communications Capability element of the 19th Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear, and high-yield Explosives Enhanced Response Force Package, known as a CERFP, during a pre-external evaluation sustainment year collective training event at Camp Atterbury Joint Maneuver Training Center, Aug. 7-12.
The JISCC is a deployable element designed to stand up and provide communications capabilities within hours of being activated in emergency and disaster events.
“We provide internet, phones and radio communications to the Indiana CERFP,” said Air Force Maj. Christopher Zell, the director of operations at the 181st Communications Flight and native of Noblesville. “If there's a natural disaster or some other emergency [where] they get activated, we go along.”
As a CERFP function, the JISCC provides a critical stop-gap in situations of internet and communication outages while also providing radio and alternative communication bridges between military, federal, state and civilian support agencies that typically use different equipment and communication frequencies.
In a matter of hours, the JISCC is able to assemble in Terre Haute to get their equipment and other items packed and then set on the road to wherever the disaster is located, said Zell.
Indeed, in disaster situations, time is of the essence.
“Once we get on site – on the footprint where we're going to be operating out of – we have to get our communications up within 45 minutes,” said Zell.
The JISCC uses its satellite and support equipment to provide commercial internet, Non-classified Internet Protocol (IP) Router Network, a government-specific communication network better known as NIPRNet, and various types of radios. The JISCC even provides secure and open network phone systems to support the mission.
“We get our generators out, fire those up and immediately work on getting our satellite up,” said Air Force Tech. Sgt. Corey Fultz, a native of Milton who serves as a network operations specialist with the 181st Communications Flight. “We improve coverage for radios. We can help [the CERFP] communicate with civilian firefighters, and EMTs through frequencies [to get them] to talk to each other. That way, nobody is out of the loop and we can work fluently with our civilian counterparts in an event.”
For the airmen, training scenarios are critical to success during actual disasters.
“Obviously, we don't hope for a real-world incident, but if a real-world [incident] did happen, being able to know exactly who we need to go to over there – what we need to have ready for them – is crucial for helping in an incident,” said Fultz.
| Date Taken: | 09.28.2022 |
| Date Posted: | 09.28.2022 10:04 |
| Story ID: | 430243 |
| Location: | CAMP ATTERBURY JOINT MANEUVER TRAINING CENTER, INDIANA, US |
| Web Views: | 430 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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