Excess FEMA Trailer's for CAP use

Lancer · April 06, 2007, 07:04:17 PM

This is a bit of welcomed news...

CAP acquiring more than 70 trailers from FEMA for use by wings, regions

http://www.cap.gov/index.cfm?fuseaction=display&nodeID=6192&newsID=2940&year=2007&month=4

NIN · April 06, 2007, 07:29:16 PM

30-ish ft vacation-type travel trailer. Supposedly the directive is "Do not remove the furniture."

So if you use it as a command post, do you conduct all the IC breifings laying down on the queen sized bed?

DNall · April 06, 2007, 07:36:09 PM

Indeed welcome news. Very happy to hear it.

I don't know about the "directive," but you can bet your butt we'd mod the hell out of it. Replace teh queen size bed with 4 bunks to start with, and make the main space more usefult to our putposes. I'm glad they have showers, I think I'd probably want make better use of the kitchenette (camp stove stores easier). Hopefully they'll come up with the radios to equip these things too (I think the AF would support that additional purchase if need be).

Sounds great. I hope my wing is moving on it. We could use five (seriously).

RiverAux · April 06, 2007, 07:42:19 PM

Ditch all the beds. You don't need them -- thats what tents are for. The space will be needed for equipment storage or working area.

DNall · April 06, 2007, 08:25:18 PM

What's a bunk bed if not shelves. You can store equip in there & then off load it on sight or as needed. You're still going to need the tents for the operators, but it'd advisable to hot-rack the command & control staff in shifts. The shower too is a big deal for morale in those kinds of situations. The outside dog shower is nice too. The awning is a plus to toss some chairs & table out there to create some more briefing area w/o getting in the way inside.

Psicorp · April 06, 2007, 09:44:34 PM

From what I've been told, these trailers need to be requested. If your Wing/Group/Squadron doesn't ask for one (or more) from the Ivory Tower, then you might not get it.

DNall · April 06, 2007, 09:54:34 PM

Seemed like in reading it the requests (w/ justification) needed to come from Wg/Reg. I know we could sure use one per Gp down here, and sure have the ops to support it. I believe we can also outfit it for dual purpose at recruiting events & the ES side.

JC004 · April 06, 2007, 09:55:09 PM

Cool stuff. I am glad to see it. Someone ought to use them.

DNall · April 06, 2007, 10:07:52 PM

hey snap them up fast & see if we can get another 70.

thefischNX01 · April 07, 2007, 05:05:14 PM

Our squadron was 'offered' one, but the reports I've heard have said they are roach-infested, with animal droppings all over the place. It would cost a lot to have it cleaned, or if you did it yourself, would still take a lot of time and energy.

I know our wing took 2 to turn into moble command centers. Last I heard there are currently 3 left in the wing inventory. Nobody really wants them...

DNall · April 07, 2007, 05:53:08 PM

I just shot off an email to figure out what's going on in our wing. We got a hanger big enough to keep one inside & a van too & not be in the way at all, and we're in mid-rebuild of both our facilities & manning to regional operation base, plus got an ES officer with a generous company heavily involved in aviation, so I think it'd be a nice project for us. I hope they send us one. Free stuff is always good.

JohnKachenmeister · April 07, 2007, 07:18:45 PM

Quote from: thefischNX01 on April 07, 2007, 05:05:14 PM
Our squadron was 'offered' one, but the reports I've heard have said they are roach-infested, with animal droppings all over the place. It would cost a lot to have it cleaned, or if you did it yourself, would still take a lot of time and energy.

I know our wing took 2 to turn into moble command centers. Last I heard there are currently 3 left in the wing inventory. Nobody really wants them...

From what I could see in Florida of the FEMA trailer camps, we could support the wing operating budget by declaring excess [redacted] in the trailers to be surplus to the inventory and selling it through the DRMO.

Admin Edit --MK

thefischNX01 · April 07, 2007, 11:42:12 PM

Quote from: JohnKachenmeister on April 07, 2007, 07:18:45 PM
From what I could see in Florida of the FEMA trailer camps, we could support the wing operating budget by declaring the excess cocaine in the trailers to be surplus to the inventory and selling it through the DRMO.

I see a squadron fundraising activity

floridacyclist · April 08, 2007, 01:31:48 AM

Quote from: RiverAux on April 06, 2007, 07:42:19 PM
Ditch all the beds. You don't need them -- thats what tents are for. The space will be needed for equipment storage or working area.

Tents don't work too well right after a hurricane. Too much mud and debris around, plus the weather can still be pretty nasty for a few days afterward.

Lancer · April 08, 2007, 02:06:58 AM

Quote from: DNall on April 07, 2007, 05:53:08 PM
I just shot off an email to figure out what's going on in our wing. We got a hanger big enough to keep one inside & a van too & not be in the way at all, and we're in mid-rebuild of both our facilities & manning to regional operation base, plus got an ES officer with a generous company heavily involved in aviation, so I think it'd be a nice project for us. I hope they send us one. Free stuff is always good.

Send? Ha. Didn't you read the terms and conditions? You have to call Maxwell and make arrangements to go and get what your taking, and you have to do it by May 15th.

MIWG is looking at getting a couple from what I've been told. We've got one trailer in all of Michigan right now. Which we used to simply call the Comm. Trailer. But now it's officially know as the MICP (Mobile Incident Command Post).

RiverAux · April 08, 2007, 02:28:45 AM

QuoteTents don't work too well right after a hurricane. Too much mud and debris around, plus the weather can still be pretty nasty for a few days afterward.

Uhh, that may be true, but where do you think all the other CAP members are going to be sleeping if not in tents or other makeshift quarters? The trailers are supposedly mobile command centers, and I assume they'll be commanding more people than can sleep in the trailer.

Nick · April 08, 2007, 04:29:03 AM

Quote from: mlcurtis69 on April 08, 2007, 02:06:58 AM
MIWG is looking at getting a couple from what I've been told. We've got one trailer in all of Michigan right now. Which we used to simply call the Comm. Trailer. But now it's officially know as the MICP (Mobile Incident Command Post).

Oh dear. Don't let the NIMS-Nazis know about that ... they are Mobile Communications Centers (MCC's) (or, if you're FEMA, Mobile Emergency Operations Centers (MEOC's)) this month.

DNall · April 08, 2007, 04:46:36 AM

Quote from: mlcurtis69 on April 08, 2007, 02:06:58 AM
Send? Ha. Didn't you read the terms and conditions? You have to call Maxwell and make arrangements to go and get what your taking, and you have to do it by May 15th.

Was checking with Wg ES to see what we'd requested. I'm not jumping my chain to ask for one myself, which wouldn't get approved anyway.

This has been in the works for a while now & talked about a few months back, it was a bit of a suprise that it happen all of a sudden with no notice, but I'm not complaining at all. Hopefully they'll get them assigned right instead of just fast. It'd suck to get it home & start fixing it up then have it up & moved on you.

Major Carrales · April 08, 2007, 03:42:32 PM

Having mobile "command posts," in the style of M*A*S*H units (although no hospitals) is a very worthy idea.

Such a command post could be stationed in a Hurricane zone after an event near an other wise destroyed airport (still functional runway) and, if outfitted with COMM and other equipment, could be the an IC's dream. Instant FBO...Instant COMM station...instant Mission Base.

I see it as a boon to CAP, both the air and ground side.

RiverAux · April 08, 2007, 04:17:52 PM

I'm not quite as hopeful. There has been a long history of various squadrons and wings setting up mobile command posts in vans or other vehicles, but for some reason they don't seem to "stick". It could be that most of the time most Wings don't have real use for them except every 5-10 years. I'm not saying that they couldn't be useful in certain standard missions in areas lacking radio repeater coverage, but the test of time seems to have passed a judgement on the concept.