No-notice exercises

[JeffDG]

Larry...

I've heard from many, and cannot disagree, that the Planning Section gets shortchanged in most SAREXs...we have everything planned weeks in advance, so there's often no money for stuff like follow-on sorties to react to information received.

That said, I think Wings need to put work into pre-planning certain disaster scenarios so the "first wave" of response can be launched on short notice.  It would be great if we could do SAREXs that had pre-planned initial launches based on scenarios, then follow-on planned-in-the-saddle based on injects received during the initial push.

[Eclipse]

Part of the issue is that a lot of PSC's have no idea what their role is and get involved in "now" instead of "next".

Every wing should have a plan to get things moving, and even some inbound sorties, etc., but we all know how long those plans survive.

[scooter]

I agree using no-notice is probably an exercise in frustration for a volunteer outfit. We did them all the time in the AF. However, you could run a no-notice red cap practice alert notification exercise with the caveat that you don't call in unless you could actually report for duty within a given time frame, say 1 or 2 hours or both. It would at least give the wing some indication how quickly the troops could respond if it was the real thing.

[arajca]

The COWG Communications Exercise in Feb did something similar - information was requested on the availablilty of members with specific ES qualifications who could respond for a 48 hour period. No one was told to respond - although in a couple of instances that part got lost. Was it a true no-notice exercise? No, but except for a very few folks on the Comm Staff who planned and ran it, no one knew what was going to happen. The notice folks got was 12 hours over the VHF net and a little less via email list. We had 76% of CAP-owned stations participate. Not a bad showing.

[Larry Mangum]

ALWG, ran a no-notice phone alert exercise last night, that clearly stated it was an exercise.  This morning, a message was sent to wing members and the majority of the text is below:

Alert Exercise
This evening we conducted our first of soon to be regular alert exercises using the wing's new mass alert system.  This new system allows us to contact all members nearly simultaneously if we need to to make inquiries for mission availability or to disseminate information.  For this particular exercise, all current and qualified mission pilots, observers, and scanners were supposed to be contacted at their primary home, work, and cell phone numbers as listed in eServices.  The alert message announced that it was an exercise message, said that the ALWG has been activated by the AFRCC to search for an overdue aircraft, and asked the call recipient to call the ICP phone number and report their name, unit, CAPID, ES qualifications, phone number, and aircraft availability if they would have been available had this a real mission.  We received 23 responses of positive availability out of 171 people contacted.  While this is only a 13% response rate, 23 aircrew members from 11 different units reporting available with 7 different aircraft would certainly be sufficient to conduct a large scale search had there been an actual need for one.  The following is a breakdown of the positive responses by unit.

If you were not contacted and feel you should have been, please first check to make sure that your phone number(s) is correct in eServices. Again, this alert went out to only the 171 members who, according to eServices, are current and qualified mission pilot, observer, or scanner. If you are not an active MP, MO, or MS, you should not have been contacted.  The alert should have gone to each of the phone numbers listed in eServices.  If this was not your experience, please let me know what issues you had with as much detail as possible.

An analysis followed and I will not bore you with those details, but lessons where learned and will be applied to future no-notice exercises.

[RiverAux]

Well, thats a good incentive to try to make sure the information in eservices is correct.  I don't know about phone numbers, but the email addresses in there are often junk. 

[RADIOMAN015]

ALWG, ran a no-notice phone alert exercise last night, that clearly stated it was an exercise.  This morning, a message was sent to wing members and the majority of the text is below:

Alert Exercise
This evening we conducted our first of soon to be regular alert exercises using the wing's new mass alert system.  This new system allows us to contact all members nearly simultaneously if we need to to make inquiries for mission availability or to disseminate information.  For this particular exercise, all current and qualified mission pilots, observers, and scanners were supposed to be contacted at their primary home, work, and cell phone numbers as listed in eServices.  The alert message announced that it was an exercise message, said that the ALWG has been activated by the AFRCC to search for an overdue aircraft, and asked the call recipient to call the ICP phone number and report their name, unit, CAPID, ES qualifications, phone number, and aircraft availability if they would have been available had this a real mission. 

What hardware are you using for your alert system?  We basically just use an email type server that sends text messages to phone & computers.  Locally I have an up to date list of all the senior members and a good idea what phone number to call at certain times of the day.

I know in the past when there's been some ELT call outs at 0400 hrs local in the morning, the text based system basically hasn't worked because no one has their computers on and many may also have their cellphones off. 

What I've found interesting is the number of members that don't have a small note pad & pen/pencil to take notes next to their phone and this slows down the manual voice alert process as they hunt around for a note pad/pen --- pretty sad
RM     

[ande.boyer]

What hardware are you using for your alert system?

We're using message911.com.  Highly recommended.

Capt Ande Boyer
Director of Emergency Services, ALWG

[Robborsari]

What hardware are you using for your alert system?

We're using message911.com.  Highly recommended.

Capt Ande Boyer
Director of Emergency Services, ALWG

I have been using one called directra.  www.directra.com.  Its in beta right now and they are looking for users.  One feature it has that I like is import of contacts in csv format.  I can export a spreadsheet of a mission pilot report for example and then import it to create a list of all mission pilots.  I can also import the list from our exercise pre-registration tool and create custom lists for each exercise.
These kinds of sites are very helpful in saving time on the notification end.

[LGM30GMCC]

For me:
If it's an actual mission, at the commander's discretion active USAF folks can take up to 4 days permissive TDY. Burning those for a 'no notice' exercise would not only be ill-advised (relationship wise and whatnot) but is quite likely illegal. All it takes is for it to be abused once and it will evaporate very very quickly. If you want to do a 'no-notice' like thing...don't tell ahead of time except to a few trusted agents where/when it will kick off specifically, but have a weekend locked down. As others have pointed out, we're just not well suited to no-notice exercises.

[Eclipse]

The next person to say it is "likely illegal" is off my Christmas card list.

If you're activated through proper channels, you're activated, exercise or no.  The only way this would be "illegal" is you, as the member, mischaracterize the situation intentionally.

We all have our personal responsibilities, and know the score at our work best.  If you can't go, you can't go, but that doesn't mean being activated for an exercise would be "illegal".

[JeffDG]

The next person to say it is "likely illegal" is off my Christmas card list.

If you're activated through proper channels, you're activated, exercise or no.  The only way this would be "illegal" is you, as the member, mischaracterize the situation intentionally.

We all have our personal responsibilities, and know the score at our work best.  If you can't go, you can't go, but that doesn't mean being activated for an exercise would be "illegal".

If I make an agreement with my employer to depart for actual emergencies, but not for exercises, and there's a no-notice with no indication it's an exercise, and I go, yes...it's illegal, in that I've breeched my contract of employment with my employer, and contracts are legal instruments, and breeching them is, per se, illegal.  Is it a felony?  No.  But that doesn't make it legal or appropriate to do so.

The individual who used that line said that he is AD military, and can be released for actual emergencies...in that case, misrepresentation by him, even if he is not aware that it is misrepresentation, probably violates at least some regulations, if not statutes, so is illegal.

[Eclipse]

In your case that would be a civil situation, not criminal, and if you are silly enough to breach an employment contract for CAP, especially when you aren't
in any way required to, then you deserve the consequences.

Further, if you lie regarding your activation, that deception also has consequences.

I am not in any way suggesting anyone lie, period, so if you do, you're having a different argument.

Just as with most military leave acts, the granting of CAP job protection isn't based on why you are activated, only that you are activated properly in respect to your states requirements.  Military units and government entities get activated for exercises all the time.  Is anyone here trying to insinuate that if their military unit was activated for Ardent Sentry their employer would say "no" it isn't "real world"?   Of course not.  They get the order paperwork, and whatever the process is, the process is.

I and others have already suggested alternatives to a full no-notice exercise which could reasonably inch the needle in the direction we need it to go, but instead we have people who want to argue that their personal response limitations should shape the total program.

If anything, the fact that people have response limitations should open the eyes of those who are doing our readiness assessments, if for no other reason than exercises like NLE/AS don't happen on Saturday after golf, when the weather is clear.  They happen during the week, weather and "other" be darned, because the agencies we profess to stand with and support are 24x7 entities with no volunteer limitations.

We can continue to make 1% excuses why members "can't", in which case we need to stop whining about our relative place in the universe, or we can try to at least nudge the bar and expectations and start treating CAP the way the marketing collateral and many responses plans describe it, as more than an hour a week and "when I feel like it..."

[a2capt]

At some point during the response when you realize it's an exercise, just bow out if you can't dedicate the time to it right now. The same thing you do if you during any mission. Stuff changes, can't go. Sorry.

The system worked.

I would, OTOH, hope they indicate right up near the alert that it's a fake, after seeing that the alerting system works.

[davidsinn]

Just as with most military leave acts, the granting of CAP job protection isn't based on why you are activated, only that you are activated properly in respect to your states requirements.  Military units and government entities get activated for exercises all the time.  Is anyone here trying to insinuate that if their military unit was activated for Ardent Sentry their employer would say "no" it isn't "real world"?   Of course not.  They get the order paperwork, and whatever the process is, the process is.

Actually in my state it does matter why you are activated.

IC 4-15-10-8
Civil air patrol emergency service operations
Sec. 8. (a) For purposes of this section, "civil air patrol" refers to the Indiana wing of the civil air patrol.
(b) For purposes of this section, "emergency service operation" includes the following operations of the
civil air patrol:
(1) Search and rescue missions designated by the Air Force Rescue Coordination Center.(2) Disaster relief, when requested by the Federal Emergency Management Agency or the department ofhomeland security established by IC 10-19-2-1.(3) Humanitarian services, when requested by the Federal Emergency Management Agency or thedepartment of homeland security established by IC 10-19-2-1.(4) United States Air Force support designated by the First Air Force, North American AerospaceDefense Command.
(c) An employee may not be disciplined for absence from work if:
(1) the employee is a member of the civil air patrol;
(2) the employee has notified the employee's immediate supervisor in writing that the employee is a
member of the civil air patrol;
(3) in the event that the employee has already reported for work
on the day of the emergency service operation, the employee secures authorization from the employee's
supervisor to leave the employee's duty station before leaving to engage in the emergency service operation;
and
(4) the employee presents a written statement to the employee's immediate supervisor from the
commander or other officer in charge of the civil air patrol indicating that the employee was engaged in an
emergency service operation at the time of the employee's absence from work.

A training exercise does not count. When I was employed I would have gone for a real world but I would not have gone for a short/no notice exercise because the bills still have to be paid.

[Eclipse]

Just as with most military leave acts, the granting of CAP job protection isn't based on why you are activated, only that you are activated properly in respect to your states requirements.  Military units and government entities get activated for exercises all the time.  Is anyone here trying to insinuate that if their military unit was activated for Ardent Sentry their employer would say "no" it isn't "real world"?   Of course not.  They get the order paperwork, and whatever the process is, the process is.

Actually in my state it does matter why you are activated.

IC 4-15-10-8
Civil air patrol emergency service operations
Sec. 8. (a) For purposes of this section, "civil air patrol" refers to the Indiana wing of the civil air patrol.
(b) For purposes of this section, "emergency service operation" includes the following operations of the
civil air patrol:
(1) Search and rescue missions designated by the Air Force Rescue Coordination Center.(2) Disaster relief, when requested by the Federal Emergency Management Agency or the department ofhomeland security established by IC 10-19-2-1.(3) Humanitarian services, when requested by the Federal Emergency Management Agency or thedepartment of homeland security established by IC 10-19-2-1.(4) United States Air Force support designated by the First Air Force, North American AerospaceDefense Command.
(c) An employee may not be disciplined for absence from work if:
(1) the employee is a member of the civil air patrol;
(2) the employee has notified the employee's immediate supervisor in writing that the employee is a
member of the civil air patrol;
(3) in the event that the employee has already reported for work
on the day of the emergency service operation, the employee secures authorization from the employee's
supervisor to leave the employee's duty station before leaving to engage in the emergency service operation;
and
(4) the employee presents a written statement to the employee's immediate supervisor from the
commander or other officer in charge of the civil air patrol indicating that the employee was engaged in an
emergency service operation at the time of the employee's absence from work.

A training exercise does not count. When I was employed I would have gone for a real world but I would not have gone for a short/no notice exercise because the bills still have to be paid.

I disagree - #1 is just a mission number.  AS last week was an A-mission.

However, fine, don't respond then, or call in and let your response be that given a real-world you would be required to submit a job protection
claim in order to respond.  The IC might not want you in that case, or he can indicate you at least called in.

Today most wings couldn't even give you an idea of how many people would even answer the phone, let alone respond.

Further, while the job protection acts are a nice-to-have, in most cases, people who would actually have to fall-back on those to get released from work, are probably not in the position to be comfortable doing it anyway.

[JeffDG]

In your case that would be a civil situation, not criminal, and if you are silly enough to breach an employment contract for CAP, especially when you aren't
in any way required to, then you deserve the consequences.

You said illegal, not criminal.  If you want to get on people's case about calling something illegal, you might want to understand that civil matters are illegal just the same as criminal matters.

Further, if you lie regarding your activation, that deception also has consequences.

I am not in any way suggesting anyone lie, period, so if you do, you're having a different argument.

Just as with most military leave acts, the granting of CAP job protection isn't based on why you are activated, only that you are activated properly in respect to your states requirements.  Military units and government entities get activated for exercises all the time.  Is anyone here trying to insinuate that if their military unit was activated for Ardent Sentry their employer would say "no" it isn't "real world"?   Of course not.  They get the order paperwork, and whatever the process is, the process is.

If someone at CAP calls me and activates me without telling me it's a no-notice exercise, then my legitimate presumption is that it's a real-emergency.  If someone yanks my chain like that for an exercise, then I will, effectively, be misleading my employer when I leave.

I have an agreement with my employer that I can go for real-world emergency services missions, not for training exercises without notice (like last week for Ardent Sentry).

So, if you call and tell people it's an exercise you'll get a low turnout.  If you call and fail to tell people it's an exercise, you'll get a high turnout...once.

[Eclipse]

In your case that would be a civil situation, not criminal, and if you are silly enough to breach an employment contract for CAP, especially when you aren't
in any way required to, then you deserve the consequences.

You said illegal, not criminal.  If you want to get on people's case about calling something illegal, you might want to understand that civil matters are illegal just the same as criminal matters.

Yeah, OK.  We both know the above was intended to insinuate that leaving work for CAP when it was "only" an exercise was a criminal offense.
Regardless, civil or criminal would only be the case if you, as the employee, intentionally mislead the employer as to the nature of the exercise, which
no one is telling anyone to do, ever.

Further, agreements a respective employee may have in regards to job protection are irrelevant in a larger discussion that includes that includes
state job protection laws, because what you agree to, or are simply comfortable with, may be more or less restrictive than the law allows, and you
potentially do it at your own risk.

So, if you call and tell people it's an exercise you'll get a low turnout.  If you call and fail to tell people it's an exercise, you'll get a high turnout...once.

Not if the expectation is that you come when you are called, and further, history has shown us that with 6 months notice, 35 emails, 10 phones calls,
and a sunny day, you'll still have too many people telling you, I wasn't there, but would be there for the 'big one'.

I have already agreed about 4 times that a no-notice, especially the first one, is unreasonable during working hours.  Fine.

So we have a non-notice drive-in on an evening or weekend.  I'm sure that is too much to ask as well.

How about a full-notice but you have no idea where you will go?

Or a 3-day notice where yo know where you will go but it is mid-week, like Katrina (or most of the MidWest right now).

[JeffDG]

I have already agreed about 4 times that a no-notice, especially the first one, is unreasonable during working hours.  Fine.

So we have a non-notice drive-in on an evening or weekend.  I'm sure that is too much to ask as well.

How about a full-notice but you have no idea where you will go?

Or a 3-day notice where yo know where you will go but it is mid-week, like Katrina (or most of the MidWest right now).

And I have already said that there are other ways too.

Like doing "Cold Start" exercises.  People know when (day) that the exercise is happening, but not when until the call-blast goes out, which informs them where to report.  These are excellent tests of capability, because the IC or Project Officer can initiate the blast when the time is right, so we don't spin our wheels waiting for ceilings to go up, and we get an idea of how long it takes to get launched from nothing.

[RiverAux]

Jeff, it would seem to be the responsibility of CAP to ensure that in your case that orders are properly written when that law comes into affect.  The simplest thing would be for CAP to not write such orders in the event of a no-notice exercise.  That way there would be no way for your employer or you to get in a bind -- you just wouldn't be a participant.