I am new to ES and would like to get other members ideas about how to plan a DR training mission as opposed to SAR. SAR I understand. It is DR that I lack much knowledge on.
Do you plan the same why? Do you stress differant points? Or do you just make minor adjustments from normal SAR training mission to justify the needs?
To start with, what disasters are you facing in your area and what might be your expected roles in any disaster?
Around here, the big ones are wildfire, hurricanes, and tornados.
Some of the activities that we train for include air and ground reconnaissance, shelter management, aerial evacuation route surveys, POD (Point of Distribution) operations, and shelter management. The last two are unique in that cadets can participate although of course they will need CAP adult supervision.
As far as training ideas, after General ES and basic GTM/L, MRO, CUL and Mission aircrew, I'd go with the ICS100, 200, and IS700 classes with ICS300 for anyone in a leadership role, Red Cross disaster curriculum and CERT. These are known courses that will get your foot in the door while you determine what the specific needs are in your area. They are just a start, but should buy you some time to figure things out.
Another option is to look at Mission Base requirements and the ICS. Around here, the EOC is always looking for good NIMS-compliant help and I'm working on having some of the older cadets ready.
Minor adjustments from normal.
My advice would stem from the experience of the members.
If they are new to the ES program, stick to the book and work them through the CAP way.
Once they are qualified, you can move into DR activities to spice things up a bit - look to the ARC for the kinds of things they do.
Frankly, the skills are about the same, just the actual ground-level activity, as in the mission goals.
Your best bet is to get a local Red Cross chapter to give your unit those Disaster Relief classes. I remember back in 2000, I went through 3 courses provided by the RC, they were awesome. In fact they are free to CAP members. I think the national red cross website has a listing of DR courses they offer. The books themselves produced by the RC are far more better than anything CAP has EVER produced.
That "free to CAP members" thing must have been local. We've always had to pay for Red Cross classes in my area. I thought the damage assessment one wasn't really all that good.
Ah see.....I thought the damage assessment was a rather good. It could have come in handy for all those CAP members sent to assist after Katrina!
I guess it all depends on instructors making the course good or not.
The RC has an agreement with the FED GOVT to instruct free classes, the National RC recognizes CAP as being a Federal Agency for some reason. It is worth explaining it to the person you register with, make that person call national RC and clarify the cost scale.
Those ARC classes will count towards the DR ribbon as well.
Talk to your local and state EMAs. See what kind of things they plan for, and see if you can run your training exercises in conjunction with one of theirs. Odds are that, if something does happen, unless it's a major fecal matter versus spinning air mover event, your local and state EMAs are going to be the ones you'll need to play with, if you're going to play at all.
True story:
Back a few years ago, I was scheduled to go over to the state capital for an EMA class in Damage Assessment. The night before the class an F3 hit the state capital and among other things took out the EMA building.