OK Missions?

[Fubar]

Just FYI Texas and Kansas wing are sending limited GTs to Oklahoma

What's a limited Ground Team?

[NCRblues]

Just FYI Texas and Kansas wing are sending limited GTs to Oklahoma

What's a limited Ground Team?

They aren't sending everyone and the kitchen sink, just select people. GBD GTL IC ext ext.... Looking for ppl with more than just ges apparently

[Fubar]

Just FYI Texas and Kansas wing are sending limited GTs to Oklahoma

What's a limited Ground Team?

They aren't sending everyone and the kitchen sink, just select people. GBD GTL IC ext ext.... Looking for ppl with more than just ges apparently

Ahh, gotcha. Safe travels to all....

[RickRutledge]

We're there. And it's HUGE. FEMA tasked us with a massive undertaking yesterday late afternoon, meanwhile we'd been there all day supporting in multiple different ways. We had boots on the ground within an hour of the tornado.

http://www.capvolunteernow.com/todays-features/?cap_aircrews_ground_teams_documenting_okla_tornado_destruction&show=news&newsID=16639

http://www.koco.com/news/oklahomanews/Recovery-operations-under-way/-/9844008/20245890/-/10wther/-/index.html

[EMT-83]

Amazing interview - nicely done.

[That Anonymous Guy]

Outstanding job Captain and everyone else out there. Everyone stay safe and I hope you can leave things a lot better where you found them.

[Fubar]

That guy should give classes on being interviewed on live TV. Fantastic!

DOH: Just noticed "that guy" is the one that posted the interview. Bravo sir!

[Luis R. Ramos]

Captain-

:clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap:

Flyer

[♠SARKID♠]

AFRCC has a few more pics on their Facebook page as well.
https://www.facebook.com/AmericasAOC

[desertengineer1]

(The following is NOT an official release - just a observation and historic text based on what I know now - it does NOT contain OPSEC sensitive information)

Yep.  We were in Ozzie's diner going through a couple of small mission taskings on Tuesday, wondering if they were going to call us for more (they weren't calling us for much, and we were kind of thinking they didn't want us or at least talking that things were appearing slow) - but we made sure they knew we were ready.  We had an AL and IC at the EOC working directly with the state ops center.  They were passing us calls for initial air sorties and misc support requests as they developed.

Then we got the call on the FEMA mission - all damaged or destroyed properties photographed with geo-tagging (GPS metadata).  Initial info was that this was easily going to be 5,000+ structures!  OK, now it is going to get busy.

We spent several hours in the diner making what seemed to be a hundred or so calls to different folks to get the staff spun up.  An EXCELLENT relationship with the Oklahoma National Guard made it possible to set up MB at the new reserve center.  The missions started rolling from there.

Comm has been excellent due to the nice tactical repeaters.  They set one up on the roof of the reserve center with a magnetic mount antenna on the elevator shaft and it is flawless so far (The 17.5 mile X 2 mile area also helped a bit - it is small).  Most of the teams can hit the repeater with handhelds in most of the hard-hit areas.  Barring that line of sight, the EFJ mobile units have been 100% beyond that.  In the event we really need to expand, we have an air repeater on standby, but don't expect to use it.  Net control is running from a handheld down in the staff room.  We track the teams as they are outbound and returning, and also pass individual requests as needed to/from the mission staff folks.

Planning was a rather big task.  We had to obtain satellite / Google maps of the damage path, then draw out individual sectors for GT photo taskings.  I got a set of Google Earth images with the NWS damage path KMZ file to get us started, then passed a request for city maps to Moore and OKC.  The next day, Moore sent us an EXCELLENT GIS map with damage path overlay, followed by street level maps of OKC's hit areas.  We started breaking out GT photo sectors for individual sorties on those, numbered sequentially, and then transcribed each one over to individual task request forms, which went to the ground teams in folders - complete with camera checklists and a camera shot of the hand-drawn sector on the wall map.  When I left MB this afternoon, the count was about 100 individual ground sorties to capture the most heavily hit areas. We still have a bit more to go.

After the first day or so, National sent us a contingent of cameras, so we were able to multiply the GT deploy rate accordingly. 

We still have the beginning (SE OKC) and Ending (E OKC) areas to get on task requests.  The challenge now is that many of our teams from surrounding states are going home, and those of us who have been on staff since the onset are going to have to get back to our employers Tuesday.  We're calling in reinforcements from units around the state to try and take the rest of it.  In addition to more cameras, camera operators have gotten very proficient with the methods and equipment, so the sector rates accelerated to a good level yesterday and today.  Wing Commander made another call out to units around the state for GT back-fill.

The initial funding amount is being eaten at a steady rate - almost all fuel cost so far.  As we've learned in past FEMA missions, they usually cut us off when either the time or funding limit is met.   Not sure when the limit will be hit, but we will continue to give it 100% until that time.  The problem here is that if we deploy teams in from surrounding states, the money is gone very quickly.  They really didn't give us much (relatively speaking), so we have to watch the costs closely.  Teams coming in from other states are much more expensive than local squadrons - hence our plea to the local-wing units that have not participated yet.  Being the first time in the fray of an operational mission staff in a large effort, this is a HUGE learning curve for me.  I didn't have a full appreciation of how critical finance tracking was until now.  Because of the relatively small amount they gave us, we have to watch it down to the dollar.

MB staff is working on the AAR tomorrow to capture the major successes, challenges, and lessons learned.  We want to make sure we get a good set of lessons learned.  Everyone understands that this is a mission we'll probably have more of in the future, so it is critical that we get it archived as accurate as possible.

Overall, I'm confident that we'll be able to get the mission done.  The amount of data flow is astronomical, and we are learning that a separate "data cell" to collect and upload the photo sets from each sector is an absolute necessity.  Same for managing the cameras and collecting/downloading the camera images.  There are several individuals who have got this down to a science.

I don't have words to describe how fulfilling it is to see so many extremely professional members working together here.  It's a machine absolutely amazing to watch.  When an issue appears, you see a group of people gather around a table to tackle it.  No egos.  No arguing.  Everyone has a say in the discussion.  It's a team effort.  After only a few minutes, you see a lot of hands moving around the maps, a lot of head nodding, and then hear the voices hit a tone of agreement of the solution.  The team solution appears celebrated by smiles, and then everyone turns to go make it happen.  Even in combat deployments I didn't see this NASA-like level of efficiency and professionalism. 

I can't think of a time I've been more proud to be a CAP member.

[desertengineer1]

Oh, and I vote Capt. Rutledge as our distinguished PAO of the year.  He represented us extremely well.

[EMT-83]

Thanks for the update. Collecting and uploading photos was a bottleneck during the Sandy mission. You simply can't process all those photos with an air card or DSL connection.

[dogden]

I spent 5 days working there, we brought up about 25 folks from Texas wing. It started a little slow but once everyone had the rhythm of the sorties, we got a lot of work done in very little time!

It was a good mission.

[Eeyore]

It was great having your help sir, I hope to work with you again. Hopefully, not under the same circumstances.

[CFI_Ed]

I spent 5 days working there, we brought up about 25 folks from Texas wing. It started a little slow but once everyone had the rhythm of the sorties, we got a lot of work done in very little time!

It was a good mission.

We appreciated all of the help from Kansas, Arkansas and the guys on the other side of the Red River. :clap:

[desertengineer1]

I spent 5 days working there, we brought up about 25 folks from Texas wing. It started a little slow but once everyone had the rhythm of the sorties, we got a lot of work done in very little time!

It was a good mission.

We appreciated all of the help from Kansas, Arkansas and the guys on the other side of the Red River. :clap:

Seconded!  :clap:

[JeffDG]

I spent 5 days working there, we brought up about 25 folks from Texas wing. It started a little slow but once everyone had the rhythm of the sorties, we got a lot of work done in very little time!

It was a good mission.

We appreciated all of the help from Kansas, Arkansas and the guys on the other side of the Red River. :clap:

What, is that some sort of "the State that shall not be named" thing going on there?

[Eeyore]

Kind of, it's the Red River Rivalry and it spans the entire year, not just game day.

[Luis R. Ramos]

For the benefit of the uninitiated I post it here.

I had to know!

I did not know!!!

You did not post...

...who were they!!!!!

The Oklahoma Sooners and The Texan Longhorns!

For both teams, may the best one win!  :clap:  :clap:  :clap:

Football games between University of Oklahoma and University of Texas at Austin. According to the Wikipedia, it goes back to a game held in 1900 when OK was a territory. I have not finished reading it. It was known as The Red River Shootout, then was changed to The Red River Rivalry at the behest of the politically correct.

Now I know!

I am not uninitiated anymore...

Flyer

[dogden]

I do not claim to support the school over in Austin! Gigem Aggies!!!!

Does this make me more welcome to our neighbors to the north?