It looks like Hannah will hit the coast of north and south Carolina as a tropical storm.
But Ike is projected to him the Miami Area Tuesday night/Wednesday morning as a cat 4 hurricane.
Quote from: BillB on September 05, 2008, 01:23:17 AM
It looks like Hannah will hit the coast of north and south Carolina as a tropical storm.
But Ike is projected to him the Miami Area Tuesday night/Wednesday morning as a cat 4 hurricane.
To be more accurate:
Miami is the center of a possible range of landfalls predicted by the models for Ike that range from south of Cuba to the SC/NC border.
The 5 day forecast is subject to extremely large errors and is subject to substantial change. Remember, at one point, this was the forecast for Hanna:
(http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/archive/2008/graphics/al08/AL082008_5W_006_0.GIF)
It is also instructive to read the Forecast Discussions. In this case, for example:
QuoteTHE TRACK GUIDANCE IS IN TWO DISTINCT BRANCHES...THE GFS...NOGAPS...AND UKMET SHOW THE
TURN OCCURRING OVER THE BAHAMAS....WHILE THE HWRF...GFDL...AND ECMWF TAKE IKE OVER CUBA OR THE STRAITS OF FLORIDA. UNTIL IT BECOME CLEAR AS TO WHICH ONE OF THESE SOLUTIONS WILL PREVAIL... THE OFFICIAL FORECAST REMAINS BETWEEN THEM...CLOSE TO THE MODEL CONSENSUS AND THE PREVIOUS ADVISORY.
This is shown here:
(http://www.notablephoto.com/images/at200809_model.gif)
...Note that none of these models (the more reliable ones) ACTUALLY points at Miami at this time.
Ike is also currently predicted to be a Cat 3 at that point (110 kts).
Finally, this is at the end of the current advisory:
QuoteAS A REMINDER...4 AND 5 DAY FORECASTS ARE SUBJECT TO POTENTIALLY LARGE ERRORS IN BOTH TRACK AND INTENSITY.
So in other words, don't make too many bets on the position 5 days from now. :)
- Joe
That one where it slips into the Gulf is a little scary...
Quote from: Eclipse on September 05, 2008, 03:33:53 AM
That one where it slips into the Gulf is a little scary...
Bring it on. We need the rain.
Quote from: jaybird512 on September 05, 2008, 07:54:59 AM
Quote from: Eclipse on September 05, 2008, 03:33:53 AM
That one where it slips into the Gulf is a little scary...
Bring it on. We need the rain.
As the Representative from the center of the Cone of Death, you can have it.
Quote from: jaybird512 on September 05, 2008, 07:54:59 AM
Quote from: Eclipse on September 05, 2008, 03:33:53 AM
That one where it slips into the Gulf is a little scary...
Bring it on. We need the rain.
Seriously... How far inland are you?
Current 5 day track is that one going into the gulf...
(http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/storm_graphics/AT09/refresh/AL0908W5_sm2+gif/144213W_sm.gif)
Lovely.
Yeah, here we go AGAIN !!! ARRRRGGHHHHHHH
David:
I would expect Ike to make a sharp turn north once it is past the influence of the high-pressure system in the Atlantic. That would spare the Chocolate City, but hit AL, MS, or the FL panhandle.
If it turns north too early, it could ride straingt up the FL peninsula, but that's OK, since I just bought a couple bottles of hurricane supplies at the Class 6 store.
If it goes to Nagin's Chocolate City, how much you want to bet that a large percentage of people will NOT evac like last week.
With the reports of shelters being dumps, no showers, not enough beds etc... I think you will see the folks in NOLA ride it out, then we will have another Katrina Humanitarian Disaster to clean up.
More and more I see that CAP can be a good asset in terms of shelter management, and helping hands, post disaster. We needed that here in South Central NY when we had the massive flooding in June of 2006.
Quote from: JohnKachenmeister on September 06, 2008, 02:26:43 PM
David:
I would expect Ike to make a sharp turn north once it is past the influence of the high-pressure system in the Atlantic. That would spare the Chocolate City, but hit AL, MS, or the FL panhandle.
If it turns north too early, it could ride straingt up the FL peninsula, but that's OK, since I just bought a couple bottles of hurricane supplies at the Class 6 store.
At present, Ike is following an almost identical path as Katrina. NOLA is directly in the center of the cone at this point. I thoroughly anticipate there will be another evacuation called for the city and metro area.
What says half the people that evac'ed for Gustav don't for Ike.... Hopefully people won't be that stupid, but after all the fuss over Gustav, for what amounted to a relatively minor storm, I wonder how this will play out.
Quote from: LtCol White on September 06, 2008, 03:19:40 PM
At present, Ike is following an almost identical path as Katrina.
Not so much....
(http://www.notablephoto.com/images/2005katrinatrack.jpg)
(http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/storm_graphics/AT09/refresh/AL0908W5_sm2+gif/204413W_sm.gif)
Besides, unless you have the same exact atmospheric conditions and steering currents (and you can't), the track of a previous storm is meaningless.
Quote from: LtCol White on September 06, 2008, 03:19:40 PM
At present, Ike is following an almost identical path as Katrina. NOLA is directly in the center of the cone at this point. I thoroughly anticipate there will be another evacuation called for the city and metro area.
Not really, Katrina was much further north than Ike is. Katrina crossed south FL, then swung up from the the south-west FL coast up to NOLA. Ike is projected to go through the FL Straits, hit Cuba, then slowly loop up to LA...
But, regardless, NOLA probably will be evacuated again.
Never mind, Joe Tomasone beat me to it...
Does anybody else see the irony of Hurricane Ike hitting all of Cuba hard? After all, "Ike" (nickname of President Dwight D. Eisenhower for you guys who don't shave regularly yet) was the president when Castro took over Cuba for Communism and nationalized (stole) all the US interests there.
Now Ike is coming back for revenge?
We got a lot of Cubans out here and not to mention Haitians. It hits home when you seem them walking around cell phone in hand trying to call loved ones back home. Suddenly you realize, it could've happened here...this real stuff. We dodged one yet again, but if it's not us, it surely is someone else who chances are they don't have the means to cope with such an event.
Dang it! I'm wait listed for Air Assault on Sunday night, but I'm on call for this freakin storm. :(
Maj. Joe "Sparky" Carrales and cadre are back under the wind-gun wielding Ike. Corpus Christi is looking down the barrel. Stand tall sir... it'll help keep your head above water. God Bless you and your squadron.
Merged.
Looks like the eye is slated to pass over my house at this point, or point west toward corpus (which is worse for us. We're expecting mid-cat 3. WG is spun up. Aircraft are moving to Tyler & Denton as of yesterday/today. We're projected to get hurricane force winds literally all 24hrs of Sat. Storm surge will be 8ft in southern & SW Harris county (which is houston & is inland a county of Galveston County). We're going to have significant flooding from rain alone, plus the surge. Power is going to be down at least a week up to 2-3 for some places (including mine).
It's looking like it's going to be one hell of a mess. And, this is a wide storm, so we'll have a large impact area. We expect quite a lot of mission coming out the back side. If you're in the group of folks who might roll to something like this, I would certainly make sure you're packed. Anybody want to come crash at my place for a couple weeks?
Guess I'm not repelling out of helicopters next week. >:(
Dnall where is your house, my family is located mostly in Brazoria and Matagorda counties. My sister lives about a mile off the beach in Sargeant, TX. She was planning on evacuating to Bay City as of last night, but now county officals are calling for the whole county to evacuate.
I used to live in Lake Jackson and ridden out Hurricanes in the past, but I hear now there is mandatory evac of Brazoria county...
Be safe everyone.
I know both Matagorda and Brazoria counties have a mandatory evacuation in effect. Galveston also has a mandatory evacuation in affect for the whole island. I grew up in Bay City.
Be safe. The rest of us have you in our thougts.
I've ridden out a lot of hurricanes & tropical storms. Been thru two eyes. Normally, I'm not very easily excited about this kind of thing. I'm usually off buying beer by this point. I've seen enough of these to know pretty well when we're not really going to take a hard hit & avoid running off silly for what's essentially just a big rain storm. This is a pretty large (size) storm that's going to catch us pretty good though. I'm not worried, but we're gonna catch some work.
I'm in SW Fort Bend County, which is to the SW of Houston/Harris County, we are the northern border of Brazoria. Bay City is a little under an hour drive (not straight line), same thru Houston to the sea wall on Galveston.
We got a new flight we've been supporting off my Sq down in Bay City for about a year now. We're keeping an eye on those folks.
If it keeps coming as currently projected... We're going to get very serious winds here for a long time. Galveston, low-lying Brazoria, SE Houston (pasadena/dickinson/NASA), port of houston, TX City refineries, etc will all get rocked pretty hard. A bunch of that will be inundated with the surge effects to some degree. Then there's the rain.
I don't know if you're too familiar with Houston, but we're pretty close to sea-level here & we got a long flat grade off to the cont-shelf, so storm surge it a bad deal. Galveston Island is the only thing that keeps it from being 15ft in downtown. A lot of low lying areas south & both E/W of town take a hit though. Also, we got pretty bad storm drainage, just based on the level of sprawled urbanization (no where for it to soak in) and our low elevation. Most of our freeway underpasses will hold water in a good rainstorm. With flood events in the past we've had 10-15 ft of water pooled in many of those bowls, sometimes with occupied cars under there once it dries out.
I think I covered CAP response up above....
We have an outstanding relationship with the state. The Gov personally sees our SDIS pics on a very regular basis, both training & real. Our Wg/CV is stationed in the state JOC. We'll be flying state & FEMA photo missions as soon as the winds clear. We got GA8s on line also.
This won't be as bad as Katrina, but I can guarantee with this impact area & our developed relationships/capabilities that we're going to have a lot more mission, both quantity & meaningful. We're going to be doing a significant amount of flying & I anticipate a very serious amount of GT work, plus there'll be shelters & CERT kind of stuff drawing off our personnel. We can slam into high-tempo ops pretty quick (we hope), but sustaining past a week or two will be a challenge. At this point I'm concerned the op may go that long. It's also kind of hard to state that sustainment timeframe too, cause you really don't know what personnel you have till after you take the hit.
Quote from: DNall on September 11, 2008, 07:42:49 PM
I've ridden out a lot of hurricanes & tropical storms. Been thru two eyes. Normally, I'm not very easily excited about this kind of thing. I'm usually off buying beer by this point. I've seen enough of these to know pretty well when we're not really going to take a hard hit & avoid running off silly for what's essentially just a big rain storm. This is a pretty large (size) storm that's going to catch us pretty good though. I'm not worried, but we're gonna catch some work.
Try being a RED CROSS SHELTER MANAGER sometime. In 1999 I did so for Hurricane Bret. That would have made me 22 year old at the time. Since then I take these things very seriously. Don't be so lack in thinking "you cannot be affected." it is apathy that causes deaths in these cases.
I mean, really, I can see some newspaper quoting your "I'm usually off buying beer by this point" in the shades of the "Steve Fosset" comments from Lt-Col Cynthia Ryan.
Really...to continue a theme from another thread...y'all need to monitor more the subjects and phrases of y'all's posts.
Most of my family has now taken shelter in Richmond, TX at my oldest sisters house.
Anyone outside of TX/LA Wing been put on alert yet? I would have thought that we'd hear something given the threat to LA, but nothing thus far.
Check out the article.
http://www.aopa.org/flightplanning/articles/2008/080909cap.html (http://www.aopa.org/flightplanning/articles/2008/080909cap.html)
Quote from: Who_knows? on September 12, 2008, 04:18:20 PM
Most of my family has now taken shelter in Richmond, TX at my oldest sisters house.
That's next door. PM me & I'll give you my number in case you have any trouble getting hold of them after it passes.
Quote from: Major Carrales on September 12, 2008, 04:07:17 AM
Quote from: DNall on September 11, 2008, 07:42:49 PM
I've ridden out a lot of hurricanes & tropical storms. Been thru two eyes. Normally, I'm not very easily excited about this kind of thing. I'm usually off buying beer by this point. I've seen enough of these to know pretty well when we're not really going to take a hard hit & avoid running off silly for what's essentially just a big rain storm. This is a pretty large (size) storm that's going to catch us pretty good though. I'm not worried, but we're gonna catch some work.
Try being a RED CROSS SHELTER MANAGER sometime. In 1999 I did so for Hurricane Bret. That would have made me 22 year old at the time. Since then I take these things very seriously. Don't be so lack in thinking "you cannot be affected." it is apathy that causes deaths in these cases.
I mean, really, I can see some newspaper quoting your "I'm usually off buying beer by this point" in the shades of the "Steve Fosset" comments from Lt-Col Cynthia Ryan.
Really...to continue a theme from another thread...y'all need to monitor more the subjects and phrases of y'all's posts.
Yeah, uh, okay. If I'm not getting hit then I don't stress out about it. We got shelter in place orders. Place it nailed down. Once you've prepared there's nothing to do but enjoy the show. You can cower in fear or keep a positive attitude.
This is a situation that is going to impact my area pretty good. Not as bad today as I thought it would be yesterday. We were anticipating 3.5 versus high 2-low 3. But, it's still going to be significant based on our geography. We'll certainly respond and do our job. I won't be a shelter manager, just like I won't be a FLS or CERT or toss sandbags if I can at all avoid it. I might do some GT in a pinch, but probably more GBD & knock out the rest of my training to IC3. If it doesn't impact us in a big way & other people got it under control, and if my guard unit doesn't need my backup team, then I'll go ahead to Air Assault on Sunday night. Life goes on & I trust the org to do it's job in most cases w/o my help.
1845 local
Currently tracking Sq assets & mbr safety. Everyone's set to ride out. Mandatory evacs are at destinations. All mandatory report after storm conditions pass.
In contact Wg/ICP staff. Coordinating requests from Ft Bend & Brazoria counties. Have CERT personnel on standby to support EOC ops. That'll involve MSA/MRO duties. They are aware of CAP's additional capabilities. I will be moving to EOC after the storm to begin liaising btwn them and ICP, which is currently located at Brooks City Base/San Antonio. Waiting auth to proceed, should be forthcoming.
We expect primary impacted area east of Houston, with most of Chamers county going under water. Galveston is already getting rocked as well. We got well into trop storm force winds here for the last several hours. Expect 100mph gusts at min to sustained possible by tonight & going for quite a while. We'll have mostly wind damage & some flooding here. Prob power loss that will be down for at least a few days to a week or more.
I'll try to keep you updated much as I can.
Quote from: DNall on September 12, 2008, 11:52:04 PM
I'll try to keep you updated much as I can.
We'll be here. Be safe.
(http://www.notablephoto.com/images/ikestrike.jpg)
not raining here yet, just started in Galveston via the news. getting close to hurricane force gusts. Should be 100mph by tonight. Under curfew since 7pm ($500 fine here, 2k in galveston). Still got power, for now. See how long that lasts.
I'll be at the county EOC in the morning. We should be tasking a couple photo flights for them routed thru the SOC for funding. Same for Brazoria. Otherwise we'll be running ELTs in the two counties and CERT backing up the EOC staff at FT Bend to start, we'll see about Brazoria later. Don't know about comm support yet, but probably.
I got an aircard & backup bats for the laptop, plus power at EOC, so if cell service holds or I can plug in over there, I'll try to keep running updates much as I can. Don't think it'll be too bad here, we'll see to the East.
Quote from: DNall on September 13, 2008, 01:19:20 AM
not raining here yet, just started in Galveston via the news. getting close to hurricane force gusts. Should be 100mph by tonight. Under curfew since 7pm ($500 fine here, 2k in galveston). Still got power, for now. See how long that lasts.
I'll be at the county EOC in the morning. We should be tasking a couple photo flights for them routed thru the SOC for funding. Same for Brazoria. Otherwise we'll be running ELTs in the two counties and CERT backing up the EOC staff at FT Bend to start, we'll see about Brazoria later. Don't know about comm support yet, but probably.
I got an aircard & backup bats for the laptop, plus power at EOC, so if cell service holds or I can plug in over there, I'll try to keep running updates much as I can. Don't think it'll be too bad here, we'll see to the East.
Now that's the kind of posts I like to read from you. Stay safe and keep us posted.
We are in the process of gathering a van full of aircrews for "afterwards" to head to SA for use depending on the IC's orders.
I understand ICP moving to GpIV after storm. Prob DWH (hooks), but no word yet. We may run out of ellington is the primary effects are east of town. We'll see.
Good Luck guys! Looks like its going to be a rough night. Hope to see posts in morning.
0245 -- Freakin window about to blow out of the frame over my head, so thought I'd commute to the couch. Hurricane force right now, for a while now just judging by my window, but I might be biased on that one. Not much rain. Usually a lot more in tropical storms, but whole ton of wind. Power's still good, flickered a bit earlier, but that's it. Even the sat dish is still working & it on the windy side. Might lose a window or two, but wanted to replace them anyway.
Again, headed to Ft Bend EOC in the morning to brief CAP capabilities, standby to support ICP move back to the group, and liaise till then at EOC.
Grab your favorite blankey, and hunker down. I hear thumb sucking helps calm fears. :P
I all seriousness I get nervous enough with the threat of tornado's I can't imagine the waves of crap y'all have to endure.
Good Luck!
And Sell CAP well I'd like to leave my Illinois Sanctuary to come down and assist!
well not to bad. ripped the metal cap do-dad off my chimney. Sister lost her fence & power for most of the night. Lots of stuff in the area got whacked pretty good though.
We've had flights up in the Corpus area (highbird for other agencies). I'm waiting on the call to go brief our EOC. Then I have to go eval my guard unit's facilities across town. ICP will relo to either there or NW side of town at DWH - I guess anyway, that's our two primaries. We have to see what the power & safety situations are at both locations.
Quote from: DNall on September 13, 2008, 01:52:47 PM
well not to bad. ripped the metal cap do-dad off my chimney. Sister lost her fence & power for most of the night. Lots of stuff in the area got whacked pretty good though.
We've had flights up in the Corpus area (highbird for other agencies). I'm waiting on the call to go brief our EOC. Then I have to go eval my guard unit's facilities across town. ICP will relo to either there or NW side of town at DWH - I guess anyway, that's our two primaries. We have to see what the power & safety situations are at both locations.
I was part of the COMM team at CAP STATION CORPUS CHRISTI, it went very well. It was great to see the facility being put to the utility it was designed for. We had an amazing amount of data going through the radio shack to Texas Task Force 1.
We also provided the CAP Station as a stanging area for the TASK FORCE. The missions objective was complete by 1600 hrs on 11 September 2008 and the Task Force was ready to "bug out" to the Houston area as the storm took its track away from South Texas. They were airborne, via a USAF C130 by 1700 hrs.
It is truly amazing how agencies work. The avarage person would be amazed.
And we didn't do anything today, very disappointing. My folks checked in okay. Widespread wind damage. I lost a storm door & a chimney cap. One of my guys has a tree on his house. lots of limbs all over everywhere, damaged signs, lots of missing shingles & power is out almost universally - mines on though :clap:
I checked our Sq hanger earlier & it was fine. Little water, but we get that in a good rainstorm anyway. No visible damage. Had to go check my guard unit at Ellington after that. CG was operating full speed. Our guys are elsewhere so all locked up, but still got power & good to go. There's a lot of cosmetic damage on the field. Power is out to the CAP bldg around the corner. The display F16 is upside down (got a couple pix I'll put up later), CG lost part of their sign, tower lost upper half of their siding, that kind of thing. ANG was cleaning up. My office lost the AC box off the roof. System was still intact best I could tell. Reported all that up, no feedback on when/if/where ICP will relocate to, or if there's any missions to do.
I mentioned earlier I was working with the local EOC on supporting them. We ended up not too badly hit in the county. They were able to handle it w/o backup & took us off standby. They're aware of our capabilities though.
So, yeah, sitting around here watching CG & Task Force 1 doing lots of work. We're doing a lot of nothing... frustrating. If we don't have serious ops up tmrw, then I'm going to AAslt Monday. Maybe two weeks of getting my butt kicked will give me time to explain to my members why they aren't good enough to make a contribution but they should still hang around & train hard. -- Exaggerating the point out of frustration there Joe, but you know what I mean. This sucks!
Dennis,
I leave for the Group V commande post in the morning, will be there until Wednesday. Hope there is lots to do.
So, did you get to meet the folk sfrom TEXAS TASK FORCE 1, they are a great group of professionals!!!
Figured that the NHQ NOC would stand up their "C4" and be interfacing with 1st Air Force EPLO to FEMA to get taskings for CAP. Is this going on or are the folks in the Wings doing the heavy lifting? No releases on NHQ site about anything since the "bracing" release while the rest of the media is all over this? Does NHQ have a paid PAO any longer?
C4s are only needed if we're going to be pumping a lot of out of state assets into an area. Given the size of TX wing and how many planes they've got, they probably don't need a whole lot of help.
National doesn't do any public affairs work on weekends as far as I can tell, which is a major weakness if we have a large mission on our hands.
Well there's some stuff going on now. We've flown a congressman & doing a little photo work. Lots more coming. Communication within the org is just so freakin bad, and ops are always unacceptably slow to turn on. There's also no ground going on that I know of.
I'm not sure if they're concerned with drivability in the area or downed powerline risk, but I've driven all around south houston yesterday for the guard & it's no problems getting around. There's enough debris & water that you don't want to do 60 down feeder roads or side streets, but for the most part it's easy traveling. Certainly we should be able to turn those folks on for ELTs.
I think the bigger issue there is concern for cadets & fear that our folks can't drive around a little debris. I'm so incredibly tired of that attitude. There's also TX Task Force 1, which if you're not familiar with them, they're a great organization, but territorial & doesn't leave us a whole lot for GT. This is where I talk about FLWG RECON as the growth area for GT.
Far as resources. I can tell you now we got comm & air resources turned on pretty high, and not just in the Houston area. There's a good chance we'll be able to use at least air resources from other states to keep up the rotation.
I want to note here in the lessons learned category (or lessons already known maybe) no power & extremely shaky cell phone service happens after hurricanes for extended periods. Fixed ICPs are nice, but they are vulnerable. You absolutely MUST have a mobile command post trailer/vehicle. I don't mean just a comm van. I mean you need a full-up able to run a massive op ICP package, with generators, able to come take over some bldg somewhere & run Katrina-sized operations from close at hand, as in co-located to the local key command & control. We can talk about issues with CAP GT ops later.
by the way, a99 & b14 are most of the sortie codes in WIMRS if you're interested.
rolling in the morning to load up form a FEMA pod & distribute food/water in neighborhoods, see if anybody needs actual help, take some assessment pics. It has to be done, and not in any way degrading the importance of it, but not exactly the kind of thing I'd like to be doing.
Quote from: DNall on September 15, 2008, 04:40:06 AM
rolling in the morning to load up form a FEMA pod & distribute food/water in neighborhoods, see if anybody needs actual help, take some assessment pics. It has to be done, and not in any way degrading the importance of it, but not exactly the kind of thing I'd like to be doing.
The vast majority of the work California Wing did after the Northridge earthquake was in support of the Red Cross.
We operated the distribution center for them and handed out a bunch of food and water while staffing Red Cross Emergency Response Vehicles with the Red Cross volunteers. We did this for almost six weeks
And that's fine. I got nothing against that. I wish they would use their own volunteers for that stuff so we can keep ours for more important missions, but whatever. My issue is just about anyone can do that kind of thing. You want to put a bunch of cadets & newer members on that kind of mission, then by all means. But, I'm a supposedly highly trained & certainly very experienced I guess high speed ES operator. Why would you task people like me to that kind of work? Is that all there is for CAP to do in this kind of thing? Are we really no more meaningful than just being any old volunteer? Why do you have paid & unpaid emergency responders right out in the middle of the mess doing big time work & we're sitting back here wishing we could make a serious difference?
If that's really the state of CAP's ES program, then we got a lot bigger problems then I would have thought before, and we need to take drastic action right away or we don't deserve to exist as an organization, much less a govt funded one. I certainly believe CAP is very capable of responding in those front line roles, and I do know the issues. I'm just very disappointed we're not realizing that potential, and equally that I put so much time & hard work into this & we're still not willing to meet standards to get in the fight.
Quote from: DNall on September 15, 2008, 06:52:00 AM
And that's fine. I got nothing against that. I wish they would use their own volunteers for that stuff so we can keep ours for more important missions, but whatever. My issue is just about anyone can do that kind of thing.
One of the reasons that I won't support the Red Cross as a ham radio operator anymore is because they (ab)use us to pass all kinds of useless info - even over the telephone.
...Yet another topic I'm going to shut up about since I am still in a good mood this morning.
As everyone knows, CAP members may not self deploy. That said, many wonder why our assistance is not requested more often. Perhaps the following, copied verbatim from the June 2008 BOG meeting, best sums up why CAP is rarely called upon to contribute during times of natural disasters:
"BoG Action
MR. ROWLAND/EX presented a slide briefing which reviewed recent and ongoing
missions/exercises; Cost-effective Force Multiplier; "A", "B" & "C" mission comparison
by category; and AF JROTC Orientation Flights.
In response to a question as to whether Civil Air Patrol voluntarily calls and offers help
following a known disaster/need or waits for the call from agencies needing volunteer
support that CAP can provide, Mr. Rowland responded that, in the past, CAP has
waited for the call. He added that management could get more involved and encourage
local units to initiate the offer of assistance. An added point was made for appropriate
publicity to help ensure awareness of CAP's availability and capability. Mr. Rowland
responded that CAP has a very good working relationship with the public affairs staff at
1st Air Force whose press releases always include the efforts of CAP."
So that's it. CAP HQ waits to be called.
That is, quite frankly, the way things are done.
In an emergency situation, you call out for the resources you need based on what you know is available; and you call for them first locally, then expanding outward to higher levels of government as resources are either not found or exhausted.
CAP should be informing Emergency Managers at all levels of government of our capabilities beforehand; they should know what we can do, when we can do it, and what it will cost beforehand so that it is written into their plan. Squadron/Group ES Officers should make themselves known to their local EMs, Wing Directors of ES should have a very good working relationship with the State, and Region should be working well with FEMA. National should be working with FEMA, DHS, etc. But this all has to be in place beforehand.
I know of a lot of (small) groups like 4x4 off-road clubs that have tried to offer their services after an emergency has arisen only to be told that they can't be used at that time. They get put off, but what they don't realize is that things are a little too chaotic to be dealing with an unknown entity at that point.
Quote from: JoeTomasone on September 15, 2008, 05:17:55 PM
CAP should be informing Emergency Managers at all levels of government of our capabilities beforehand; they should know what we can do, when we can do it, and what it will cost beforehand so that it is written into their plan. Squadron/Group ES Officers should make themselves known to their local EMs, Wing Directors of ES should have a very good working relationship with the State, and Region should be working well with FEMA. National should be working with FEMA, DHS, etc. But this all has to be in place beforehand.
You are right until you drop to levels below wing. Only Wing and higher can commit CAP resources. Local squadrons should not enter into relationships where they cannot guarantee the allocation of their unit resources in the event they are called in an emergency. The local authorities do not want to waste time with folks that do not command resources.
So under your model, CAP could only be called in instances where the state EM is involved. This rules out most of the local SAR (missing persons) and DR missions.
Unless local units get the authority to deploy independent of Wing approval, or Wing ES Officers get local, we are stuck with what we have today.
Quote from: cnitas on September 15, 2008, 06:36:26 PM
You are right until you drop to levels below wing. Only Wing and higher can commit CAP resources. Local squadrons should not enter into relationships where they cannot guarantee the allocation of their unit resources in the event they are called in an emergency. The local authorities do not want to waste time with folks that do not command resources.
You are correct, and I should have emphasized that more. What I meant to convey is that local units should meet with their local EM and let them know about CAP and our capabilities so that in the event that CAP is needed, the proper requests can be made. I didn't mean to imply a direct MOU style relationship, but merely that the local EM should know the local CAP folks so that they are a known quantity, even if the requests come from higher up.
And the "waste time" factor varies from EM to EM in my experience.
National press release http://www.cap.gov/visitors/news/cap_news_online/index.cfm?fuseaction=display&nodeID=6192&newsID=4722&year=2008&month=9 says 8 planes did "up to" 40 sorties today. Thats some pretty good turnaround times...
For the first time in over a month NOAA has displayed this beautiful image.
(http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f269/CAPnum/atl_overview.gif)
One of my units got a call from their namesake airport, the Mayor called the NOC, and within hours as many as 21 people
were throwing sandbags or doing mission support for the airport and a neighboring town.
I was not "well pleased" that this was the 4th or 5th situation in the last year where the NOC refused A-support for a real world DR mission, but the expenses involved were effectively zero, so the rest is a nuance of health insurance and liability.
Its just very disappointing. Apparently, at this point, its got to be Presidentially declared before we get involved an an A-Level, all other response is done as a local corporate mission.
Bottom line, this has been a long-time coming for us to be able to provide some visible support for the airport and surrounding communities.
Quote from: cnitas on September 15, 2008, 06:36:26 PM
Quote from: JoeTomasone on September 15, 2008, 05:17:55 PM
CAP should be informing Emergency Managers at all levels of government of our capabilities beforehand; they should know what we can do, when we can do it, and what it will cost beforehand so that it is written into their plan. Squadron/Group ES Officers should make themselves known to their local EMs, Wing Directors of ES should have a very good working relationship with the State, and Region should be working well with FEMA. National should be working with FEMA, DHS, etc. But this all has to be in place beforehand.
You are right until you drop to levels below wing. Only Wing and higher can commit CAP resources. Local squadrons should not enter into relationships where they cannot guarantee the allocation of their unit resources in the event they are called in an emergency. The local authorities do not want to waste time with folks that do not command resources...
Yes & no. Should not enter into relationships? Yeah, I disagree there. I think it's highly appropriate for your Sq ES officer (maybe comm officer as well) to liaise with local EOCs/govt response mechanisms long before any disaster situation occurs. They should inform those folks & be involved as much as possible in response planning & joint exercises, even if only the table top variety. Yes of course you have to go to higher for resources, no one is disputing that. You should have someone on duty with them in the situation as well, and they aren't going to be an AL, they are going to be an LO, passing info to the ICP & helping the EOC understand how to request resources thru NOC or whatever the appropriate process may be.
By the way, pushed out approx 5250 meals/water, lots of additional water. Had a bottled water plant running full blast & giving away all they could make. Blew thru 1000 MREs & then gave out all they could get from Houston Food Bank. Ran out with quite a line left. Getting resources out is still an issue, and this was not nearly the most effected area. (Anybody feel like writing a press release for the MIO, I'm not going on a lot of sleep last few days).
ICP will be moving to West Houston this morning, and photo missions will continue full blast. I would anticipate for at least three days at that pace, and probably all week. Ground ops are still few & far between - mostly the isolated distribution stuff we did today.
DNall, the previous post to yours just said that the NOC did not approve 4 or 5 A-mission requests in the past year alone...even when the asset (CAP Ground Team) is available and ready to deploy.
That effectivly tells the local EM that he/she cannot rely on that resource in local situations, and they will plan accordingly.
Quote from: JoeTomasone on September 15, 2008, 06:47:18 PM
Quote from: cnitas on September 15, 2008, 06:36:26 PM
You are right until you drop to levels below wing. Only Wing and higher can commit CAP resources. Local squadrons should not enter into relationships where they cannot guarantee the allocation of their unit resources in the event they are called in an emergency. The local authorities do not want to waste time with folks that do not command resources.
You are correct, and I should have emphasized that more. What I meant to convey is that local units should meet with their local EM and let them know about CAP and our capabilities so that in the event that CAP is needed, the proper requests can be made. I didn't mean to imply a direct MOU style relationship, but merely that the local EM should know the local CAP folks so that they are a known quantity, even if the requests come from higher up.
And the "waste time" factor varies from EM to EM in my experience.
Interestingly enough Indiana law requires the Commander or his designee of the local squadron to sit on the County EMA council
QuoteIC 10-14-3-17
County emergency management advisory council; local emergency management organizations; power of political subdivisions; public work
Sec. 17. (a) A political subdivision is:
(1) within the jurisdiction of; and
(2) served by;
a department of emergency management or by an interjurisdictional agency responsible for disaster preparedness and coordination of response.
(b) A county shall:
(1) maintain a county emergency management advisory council and a county emergency management organization; or
(2) participate in an interjurisdictional disaster agency that,
except as otherwise provided under this chapter, may have jurisdiction over and serve the entire county.
(c) The county emergency management advisory council consists of the following individuals or their designees:
(1) The president of the county executive or, if the county executive does not have a president, a member of the county executive appointed from the membership of the county executive.
(2) The president of the county fiscal body.
(3) The mayor of each city located in the county.
(4) An individual representing the legislative bodies of all towns located in the county.
(5) Representatives of private and public agencies or organizations that can assist emergency management considered appropriate by the county emergency management advisory council.
(6) One (1) commander of a local civil air patrol unit in the county or the commander's designee.
Looks like I'll be making a call on the EM for my county and introducing myself on behalf of my commander.
The NOC and the AF have been totally and absolutely inconsistent about what missions are "local" and won't get AFAM status and which ones are and will get AFAM status. How about a situation I am aware of where they refuse AFAM status for a Presidentially-declared disaster because earlier a few flights for the same incident had been done as non-AFAMs? Explain that one to me.
Quote from: cnitas on September 16, 2008, 01:25:34 PM
DNall, the previous post to yours just said that the NOC did not approve 4 or 5 A-mission requests in the past year alone...even when the asset (CAP Ground Team) is available and ready to deploy.
That effectively tells the local EM that he/she cannot rely on that resource in local situations, and they will plan accordingly.
There's a couple parts to that...
First, A-missions are not & should not be approved for non-presidentially declared disasters. If it's state declared then the state pays the bills, if it's a local situation then the local EMA pays, otherwise you can get an unfunded C-mission number & do the work. It's fine to push it up & see if higher will pay for it, but don't count on that, and don't be frustrated when they say no.
The mission still absolutely can happen. It's the responsibility of that local liaison to know what level of govt they're dealing with in the request & aid the local EM in making the request correctly to NOC so that it will be approved accordingly. It's also that LO's responsibility to know what resources are accessible at what levels & timeframes. They can't promise anything, but they can know what's out there & talk to the ICP/Wg about availability subject to priorities at higher.
If that LO goes across there playing amateur hour, then yeah you can burn that bridge for a little while. I wouldn't recommend that. I know there's a learning curve for all sides of the scenerio. I recommend the LO make contact, then build up the relationship over time by educating both the EM & Wg thru conducted joint exercises. Do NOT just tell them what we got & wait around for a call. Even if you sell it real well & get those calls, it'll miss the target a lot of times, as ref'd above.
Quote from: RiverAux on September 16, 2008, 09:32:43 PM
The NOC and the AF have been totally and absolutely inconsistent about what missions are "local" and won't get AFAM status and which ones are and will get AFAM status. How about a situation I am aware of where they refuse AFAM status for a Presidentially-declared disaster because earlier a few flights for the same incident had been done as non-AFAMs? Explain that one to me.
Look at the CAPabilities guide we have for customers. Check out the decision trees toward the back.
If a federal response exists (presidentially declared) then the 1AF makes a call if the missions asked for are necessary to that response & the most efficient way to do it with available resources from all responding agencies, or not.
They may also give you an A number during non-presidentially declared disasters if they feel it's in their lane & proper use of resources. It's their money & their resources. They have every right to decide where & how they will be used, or at very least if they'll pay or be liable for it.
I'm not disputing their right to granting AFAM status, just pointing out that they don't follow their own guidelines very well. For example, refusing AFAM status for a Presidential disaster. They approved the mission, but not as AFAM.
Again, being a presidentially declared disaster does not automatically confer AFAM status or approval of all missions/sorties/requests. I hope you'll agree that the federal govt should not pay for absolutely every request that comes across the table. The presidential declaration just gives them the ability to fund missions out of a different pool of money with some more open rules, it doesn't say they have to or should.
We're never going to see all the moving pieces at that level to second guess those calls. All we can do is learn the ropes & help the customers frame the requests in a way that will be more effective.
And, when it's not appropriate to fund as an AFAM, but they think CAP should do the mission with state or corporate funds, they'll say that, which is appropriate. When they don't say that, it's a real good idea to think real hard if we should be doing it or not.
While I can understand why the AF makes the calls it makes (most of the time) in regards to when local disasters or SARs get AFAM status, if there is a presidentially declared disaster and we get a properly made request for a mission within our capabilities for which we have resources ready, there is no valid reason that it shouldn't be an AFAM unless it is totally crazy. But, for example, requests for aerial damage photos durinng a Pres. disaster should always be AFAMs.
Again, the 1AF/CC determines is it is the best use of resources, if it's the right resource for the job, etc.
If that request comes across & he thinks it'd be better to use an ANG UAV or something to get the level of detail they need than 5 CAP sorties over a day long period, then he gets to make that call. Maybe the state is asking for something that's also useful to other folks, like FEMA or the President, and he wants to cover it all with one sortie rather than dividing efforts.
Or maybe he just doesn't think it's important enough for the feds to pay for. I mean I feel for New Orleans for example, but is the fed govt really responsible for paying for everything just cause it's a major (pres declared) disaster? I think not. The state and local communities bear some responsibility, and they each have a lane of missions they are responsible for doing. If it's out of the federal lane, it should get turned down. If they have time to tell you the state or local govt should be paying that bill, or that the mission should just not be done, is not necessarily required.
If can't expect at least a minimum level of consistency in this, we're going to have to stop the minimal efforts we have now to maintain relationships with local and state governments. If we can't tell them with a fair degree of certainity, when we can and cannot provide them assistance at AF expense, they're going to stop asking pretty soon.
Sure, its never a guarantee, but if they call us for a totally legit mission on a Presidential disaster and our response is "we'll fly if you pay" when the exact same type of mission request several months earlier was approved as an AFAM even though it wasn't a Pres. disaster, they're just not going to take us seriously.
My issue isn't as much who pays, you can always agree to that as part of the mission planning, and some MOU's already accommodate the issue.
My concern is the lack of FECA coverage for my people that would come with A-Status.
Generally if a mission is waiting, we get approval through some channel, but my people should at least be protected if they get hurt throwing sandbags and have to miss work, especially if its a prolonged time.
Heck, some monthly proficiency flying is A-Status, but legit DR isn't? That's just not right.
At a minimum there should be objective guidelines.
You want to talk about FECA & member protections in general, by all means I think it's jacked up that those even have to be debated. That should be 24/7 coverage, either FECA for AFAM, state alternative for state/local missions, or CAP corporate provided for any other circumstance including not on missions.
Quote from: DNall on September 17, 2008, 05:58:30 PM
You want to talk about FECA & member protections in general, by all means I think it's jacked up that those even have to be debated. That should be 24/7 coverage, either FECA for AFAM, state alternative for state/local missions, or CAP corporate provided for any other circumstance including not on missions.
We moved the Mission Base from Stinson in San Antonio to West Houston, are you there helping? They have lots to do and need help at mission base. I know, I was at Stinson from Sunday morning until last night when we transfer the ICP and changed ICs in favor of field operations.
You wanted something to do? Now's the time, lad!!!
I've been back & forth between CAP & national guard duties since the thing started. I guess I can go back over there. I gotta go to Ellington again too. I guess I can put one of those off till tmrw.
Heading down to IWS/KIWS late Friday night... don't know where they'll put me to work at mission base.
I went over there this evening, after I got done working for the guard in the morning, and did nothing. They're flying the sorties. There's a few people running WIMRS, uploading a few photos to WIMRS, and putting data stamps on photos to be flown back to Austin. Otherwise, there's not a lot going on. The flight line folks were overstaffed. Comm wasn't getting a whole ton of use from the truck parked across the way. The biggest need I saw was for aircrew. They have to fly a whole lot of sorties & keep up with crew rest, so they really need more folks then they got. Certainly we're going to need to rotate the base staff along the way, but it's not at all busy like a normal sarex.
Quote from: DNall on September 18, 2008, 09:54:22 AM
I went over there this evening, after I got done working for the guard in the morning, and did nothing. They're flying the sorties. There's a few people running WIMRS, uploading a few photos to WIMRS, and putting data stamps on photos to be flown back to Austin. Otherwise, there's not a lot going on. The flight line folks were overstaffed. Comm wasn't getting a whole ton of use from the truck parked across the way. The biggest need I saw was for aircrew. They have to fly a whole lot of sorties & keep up with crew rest, so they really need more folks then they got. Certainly we're going to need to rotate the base staff along the way, but it's not at all busy like a normal sarex.
Did you meet Lt Col John Barfoot? He's one of ours.
Didn't but I wasn't really being excessively social.
I was out running a FEMA POD site today. Local media & NHQ PA folks around. Pushed out literally tons of stuff. The ranking cadet there lost everything he owns on Galveston & isn't even allowed back to see the mess. He's sleeping out of his car since the storm, refused to let us put him up anywhere (we ended up forcing him anyway), but he's still out there working all day in the sun helping people not nearly as bad off as he is. That's what volunteer spirit means right there.
Quote from: DNall on September 20, 2008, 02:22:13 AM
That's what volunteer spirit means right there.
Absolutely.
We should think about a fund for our members who need it.
One of the most important intangible benefits of CAP is having something to hold on to in times of crisis,
whether its just being part of the team that is helping, and maybe having a few extra tidbits of information
than the average Joe, or actually rolling up your sleeves and getting involved.
Unlike the millions who do nothing but watch on TV and wait for life to happen, sometimes we get to push back.
After 9/11, most were glued to the tv, while thousands of us were checking into HQ and hundreds were actually
getting involved.
The Challenger, Katrina, the Olympics, and the hundreds of smaller events had us in the fight.
For Ike and Gustav, units all over the country were planning deployments and packing gear.
Altruism aside, without CAP that young man would likely be locked in a hotel somewhere counting ceiling tiles
waiting for the call to go home - not the healthiest place for a kid who has lost everything.
^ No doubt. When people's lives are wrecked and they're helpless to do anything about it, we offer that opportunity to fight back and make a difference.
I hope PAOs are taking note. That's your story line right there; followed by, "and we get to accomplish some amazing missions for America in the process, like..."
In reality, it freakin sucks that we train our butts off all year to catch a couple redcaps & routine ELTs, then the real show comes along & we're relegated to the same stuff any joe off the street is doing. If not for that short lived feel good aspect, all my members would have already quit. I'd also note that right now we're in the middle of this with those positive aspects, but eventually those members have to go back to their lives & face reality. When that happens, we're going to have problems retaining people & quals.
Myself and one of the other folks I work with on ES a lot here are in pre-planning right now. We're building a lessons-learned kind of thing from our perspective. Not so much detailed on what is happening right now, but more a vision of what the CAP response SHOULD have been. We're going to go roll that out in a joint SAREX with CG, CGAux, and ARNG Aviation assets. We're going to bring in ICs for a joint response planning table top, then run the resultant op - well, CAP & CGAux will run the op, with CG, ARNG, and our state ops center in Austin monitoring. And we're going to do it out of my guard unit's facility, which is right next to CG Air group, and with a big open ANG flight line next to it (ANG F16s got moved out, predators haven't shown up yet).
We're putting together that major SaREx as really a preemptive strike against the backlash we expect when current ops are over & members start to get pissed that they aren't under utilized. It gives them something to look forward to, it gives an expectation of what we will be doing in future major response missions, and it shows off our capabilities to those other agencies - ie relationship building we've been talking about.
From most recent CAP News Online article:
QuoteWhile the NWS was aloft with Civil Air Patrol, other CAP volunteers served Houston residents on the ground at Manvel High School. Dozens of ground team members passed out bags of ice, bottled water and meals to residents driving through the school's parking lot. CAP members also provided first aid to weary residents of Manvel, a community of about 7,000 just south of Houston.
The food/water handout mission isn't too surprising. At this point after the hurricane there probably isn't much left to do in the SAR arena so this seems like an appropriate use of CAP. Would be interested to hear more about the first aid we were performing for the public.
Quote from: RiverAux on September 20, 2008, 02:07:43 PM
From most recent CAP News Online article:
QuoteWhile the NWS was aloft with Civil Air Patrol, other CAP volunteers served Houston residents on the ground at Manvel High School. Dozens of ground team members passed out bags of ice, bottled water and meals to residents driving through the school's parking lot. CAP members also provided first aid to weary residents of Manvel, a community of about 7,000 just south of Houston.
The food/water handout mission isn't too surprising. At this point after the hurricane there probably isn't much left to do in the SAR arena so this seems like an appropriate use of CAP. Would be interested to hear more about the first aid we were performing for the public.
A massive aeriel recon mission is going on and has been since since last Sunday when it was out of San Antonio. I have never been more proud to be a member of CAP, be it of the aviators, any ground team what went out or the fellows handing out food and water.
To Maj. Joe Carrales
"Sparky"
We are ALL proud of the Texas Wing. Hang in there... there are so many people counting on you. Also, there are so many people in CAP who send you best wishes for strength and provision. With Hannah and Ike, your people have been handed much. Fortunately, for all of the Texas Gulf Coast, you have great people.
Quote from: RiverAux on September 20, 2008, 02:07:43 PM
From most recent CAP News Online article:
QuoteWhile the NWS was aloft with Civil Air Patrol, other CAP volunteers served Houston residents on the ground at Manvel High School. Dozens of ground team members passed out bags of ice, bottled water and meals to residents driving through the school's parking lot. CAP members also provided first aid to weary residents of Manvel, a community of about 7,000 just south of Houston.
The food/water handout mission isn't too surprising. At this point after the hurricane there probably isn't much left to do in the SAR arena so this seems like an appropriate use of CAP. Would be interested to hear more about the first aid we were performing for the public.
Isn't providing First Aid, unless an emergency, a major CAP Healthcare No-No?
Quote from: Smithsonia on September 20, 2008, 04:41:22 PM
To Maj. Joe Carrales
"Sparky"
We are ALL proud of the Texas Wing. Hang in there... there are so many people counting on you. Also, there are so many people in CAP who send you best wishes for strength and provision. With Hannah and Ike, your people have been handed much. Fortunately, for all of the Texas Gulf Coast, you have great people.
Thank you, I will relay the message to the "front," I, when I was there for three days this week, saw CAP at its finest. From creating the Stinson Mission base in San Antonio until the "buggout" for Houston where were "changed shifts" and provided our Aircrews.
If you have seen the photos of Galveston, you will see the full extend of the destruction. It is, in many ways, 1900 again to some degree. The Photo recon we are doing is part of the first step to rebuilding.
Quote from: DC on September 20, 2008, 04:45:41 PM
Quote from: RiverAux on September 20, 2008, 02:07:43 PM
From most recent CAP News Online article:
QuoteWhile the NWS was aloft with Civil Air Patrol, other CAP volunteers served Houston residents on the ground at Manvel High School. Dozens of ground team members passed out bags of ice, bottled water and meals to residents driving through the school's parking lot. CAP members also provided first aid to weary residents of Manvel, a community of about 7,000 just south of Houston.
The food/water handout mission isn't too surprising. At this point after the hurricane there probably isn't much left to do in the SAR arena so this seems like an appropriate use of CAP. Would be interested to hear more about the first aid we were performing for the public.
Isn't providing First Aid, unless an emergency, a major CAP Healthcare No-No?
I would think that a person who was certified in First Aid, be they in CAP or not, might be bound by an obligation to render that aid.
Quote from: DC on September 20, 2008, 04:45:41 PMIsn't providing First Aid, unless an emergency, a major CAP Healthcare No-No?
We're all allowed to provide emergency care to the limits of our training, basic first aid is generally not an issue, its when you start getting into BLS-type situations that CAP is going to back away from insurance coverage. etc.
Tags - MIKE
Quote from: RiverAux on September 20, 2008, 02:07:43 PM
From most recent CAP News Online article:
QuoteWhile the NWS was aloft with Civil Air Patrol, other CAP volunteers served Houston residents on the ground at Manvel High School. Dozens of ground team members passed out bags of ice, bottled water and meals to residents driving through the school's parking lot. CAP members also provided first aid to weary residents of Manvel, a community of about 7,000 just south of Houston.
The food/water handout mission isn't too surprising. At this point after the hurricane there probably isn't much left to do in the SAR arena so this seems like an appropriate use of CAP. Would be interested to hear more about the first aid we were performing for the public.
Some lady coming thru line was having an asthma attack. Nurse/CAP: member calmed her down, cooled off, took vitals/etc, handed off to ambulance. Couple bandaids, nothing serious. Was out there again today, bit slower traffic. They aren't opening tmrw - national guard is also running a distribution point a few miles away & gas is more readily avail now.
Distribution support was really all about PR & is on a corporate mission number. No agency ever requested our support, we just created the mission thru contacts. CAP specifically wasn't really needed, just warm bodies & they had those. There's also dozens of other sites around the area that we didn't help at & they operated just fine w/o us.
Most serious GT folks are pissed off cause there never was a SaR mission for us and still isn't (we're finally running some routine ELTs in the major impact area w/ 18+). That's a major retention issue for our ES folks.
The air mission isn't massive either. It's average ops tempo for most redcaps, it's just going on for longer. It's also primarily a state mission, not federal. That speaks well of our relationship with the state, but not for CAP nationally.
if you got houston local news, you'll want watch abc13 tonight. Primetime reporter spent the whole day at our ICP. Just got some first hand back on the GTs that were on Galveston today. Sounds worse than it looks on TV.
Quote from: DNall on September 21, 2008, 01:43:06 AM
if you got houston local news, you'll want watch abc13 tonight. Primetime reporter spent the whole day at our ICP. Just got some first hand back on the GTs that were on Galveston today. Sounds worse than it looks on TV.
Yeah, 20 foot walls of water, i.e. storm surge, are kinda hard on the real estate values.
Lonestar flight museum down there had 5ft of water in it during the storm. Most planes didn't get evac'd whole museum section is a pile of trash. All the ELTs are going off, which is why our folks were there. They're just notifying owners to come turn them off when they can get back on the island, which is apparently Wed, but there may be some 1hr look & leave going on.
I'm either on ops or heading down to the island tmrw.
Let us know if that station puts any of the video from their vist on their web page.
This is the POD we've been working all week (we were at that church prior to their Mayor whining on TV):
http://abclocal.go.com/ktrk/story?section=weather/hurricane&id=6403230 (http://abclocal.go.com/ktrk/story?section=weather/hurricane&id=6403230)
They haven't posted the video from last night's news. It was good though. I'll keep an eye out for it.
Air Photos:
http://magic.csr.utexas.edu/Storm/08Ike/Imagery.php (http://magic.csr.utexas.edu/Storm/08Ike/Imagery.php)
I've been running ops yesterday & today, sitting at ICP now. Got gillions (yes that's a word) of ELTs right now & little GT personnel left to sortie. Turned off 4 yesterday, one so far today, 8 more assigned to the one GT I have on Galveston Island. Lots of work to go around. We'll be done w/ photo missions probably Wedensday. Guess we'll keep running ELTs till they go away.
For those of you wondering why there might be so many ELT's going off, not to mention EPRIB's check this link out and paying close attention to photos 30, 36 and 70. In regards to EPRIB's, commercial fishing boats I believe are required to carry one.
http://www.chron.com/news/photogallery/MAKE_UP_A_GREAT_AERIAL_TITLE_HERE.html
Quote from: DNall on September 22, 2008, 04:53:05 PM
I've been running ops yesterday & today, sitting at ICP now. Got gillions (yes that's a word) of ELTs right now & little GT personnel left to sortie. Turned off 4 yesterday, one so far today, 8 more assigned to the one GT I have on Galveston Island. Lots of work to go around. We'll be done w/ photo missions probably Wedensday. Guess we'll keep running ELTs till they go away.
Good seeing you again, Dennis. I was the 'voice of High Bird' working the radio relay aircraft comms on Sunday, flying a 10-NM racetrack pattern at 9500 feet between Ellington Field and Texas City along I-45. Nearly 5 hours in the air.
Quote from: AlphaSigOU on September 22, 2008, 05:47:10 PM
Quote from: DNall on September 22, 2008, 04:53:05 PM
I've been running ops yesterday & today, sitting at ICP now. Got gillions (yes that's a word) of ELTs right now & little GT personnel left to sortie. Turned off 4 yesterday, one so far today, 8 more assigned to the one GT I have on Galveston Island. Lots of work to go around. We'll be done w/ photo missions probably Wedensday. Guess we'll keep running ELTs till they go away.
Good seeing you again, Dennis. I was the 'voice of High Bird' working the radio relay aircraft comms on Sunday, flying a 10-NM racetrack pattern at 9500 feet between Ellington Field and Texas City along I-45. Nearly 5 hours in the air.
Keep 'em flyin', Chuck!!! I used three Personal Days from the School at the start of this, I have to conserve the rest for other activities that might arise; but I wish I was there now.
In fact, I have been having dreams of being at mission base. Its freaky, the yearning of the soul to be amid my brother and sister aviators. It had been a long time since I had deployed to anything for CAP ES-wise more than a a single overnighter in a long time...and frankly, I liked it a great deal.
well little update from the field. Took a TV crew from ABC-13 out with us on GT today to Tiki Island. This is their third story on CAP since Ike started. They did an awsome report!!! It was in general extremely good coverage of CAP in action and as a professional organization. However, it was especially super awsome cause I was pretty much the star of the show. Yall will really love this one, assuming they ever put freakin video up on their website. If not, we're waiting on a dvd copy.
Photo of the elusive Captain Corway now on www.capchannel.com !
(http://mhuchette.albumpost.com/2008HurricaneIke%2CTexasCoverage/DSC_8468)
I'm in the background, sitting in my blue flight suit, looking over the crew briefing.
Foreground: 1st Lt John Theiss, 2d Lt Michelle Weisskopf, Maj Russ Miller.
OK, you're just doing this to "sell" your proper uniform 1-sheets, right? ;D
(http://mhuchette.albumpost.com//albums/2008HurricaneIke%2CTexasCoverage/DSC_8468.sized.jpg)
Quote from: Eclipse on September 25, 2008, 07:43:19 PM
OK, you're just doing this to "sell" your proper uniform 1-sheets, right? ;D
Moi? ;) ;D >:D ;D
I wouldn't whack on the guy with the cloth grade insignia on his flight suit.
The plastic encased stuff hasn't been available for over a year and actually, the white on blue insignia is what we asked the Air Force for.
And actually, it doesn't look too bad either. I've seen much, much worse.
Quote from: PHall on September 26, 2008, 01:20:39 AM
I wouldn't whack on the guy with the cloth grade insignia on his flight suit.
The plastic encased stuff hasn't been available for over a year and actually, the white on blue insignia is what we asked the Air Force for.
And actually, it doesn't look too bad either. I've seen much, much worse.
I agree, it's not too bad and the background is distinctive enough to distinguish us from the RealAirForce®. But you know how it goes... ;D
Quote from: PHall on September 26, 2008, 01:20:39 AM
I wouldn't whack on the guy with the cloth grade insignia on his flight suit.
The plastic encased stuff hasn't been available for over a year and actually, the white on blue insignia is what we asked the Air Force for.
And actually, it doesn't look too bad either. I've seen much, much worse.
The plastic encased grade is fully available, I recently ordered some myself, and Vanguard is not the only source.
As to what looks better, etc., that's irrelevant to the conversation. If he were one of my guys, I would shake his hand, thank him sincerely for his service, and quietly direct him to fix his uniform before he wears it again. I have personally been involved with evals where CAP-RAPS have directed IC's to ground members for similar infractions (in that case it was metal grade on the shoulders).
Are you saying that I can choose to wear metal grade on my service coat because I can't find appropriate epaulet sleeves?
Where's the line? This isn't a case where one reg conflicts another, the verbiage is clear on this.
Most of the others in the pic are in golf shirts, which require no configuration. If you want to wear the cool duds, you wear them right.
There's also the issue of not publishing the photo publicly.
I also recently confirmed with vanguard that plastic encased is avail, and ordered when they said it was. Apparently not yet from Hock, or they would have got my business instead.
I don't like the stuff, wish they'd change to cloth (inexpensive & looks better), my pref would be for full color on OD background or dark blue background for the blue flight suit. But, of course we're not talking about what uniform policy should be, we're talking about what it is and our responsibility as leaders to enforce that standard.
It is tough. A SaREx is one thing, but when life &/or property are on the line & you're desperately short resources, there's a smell test that has to be applied to how critical you can be.
In other news... the photo recon mission is continuing at least thru Sat. We're reevaluating the ELT mission each day - we're able to keep it open for a couple three more weeks to operate on wknd or when we have resources, but we're not taking sat hits & when the photo flights stop we won't be getting pireps to guide off, plus the batteries are dying out. CG can't find anyone in distress, so they don't care about signals. That's their typical attitude. AF is more of the opinion that they need to clear the false signals so it doesn't impede actual emergencies if/when they happen, but they don't want to burn a lot of resources either.
And... dvd of me looking all cool is going to NHQ/PA in about a week. Yall will love that one. It really does make CAP look awsome. It's just bonus that I come off looking super cool in the process. Pretty disappointed it's not on their website.
Me GBD'ing:
http://mhuchette.albumpost.com/2008HurricaneIke%2CTexasCoverage/DSC_8580 (http://mhuchette.albumpost.com/2008HurricaneIke%2CTexasCoverage/DSC_8580)
http://mhuchette.albumpost.com/2008HurricaneIke%2CTexasCoverage/DSC_8581 (http://mhuchette.albumpost.com/2008HurricaneIke%2CTexasCoverage/DSC_8581)
CAP-RAP guy that cared a whole lot more about WIMRS not being too jacked up than what minor uniform problems were floating around:
http://mhuchette.albumpost.com/2008HurricaneIke%2CTexasCoverage/DSC_8710 (http://mhuchette.albumpost.com/2008HurricaneIke%2CTexasCoverage/DSC_8710)
So, is it 9:13 or 9:14? I mean COME ON! ;D
Quote from: DNall on September 24, 2008, 05:48:10 AM
well little update from the field. Took a TV crew from ABC-13 out with us on GT today to Tiki Island. This is their third story on CAP since Ike started. They did an awsome report!!! It was in general extremely good coverage of CAP in action and as a professional organization. However, it was especially super awsome cause I was pretty much the star of the show. Yall will really love this one, assuming they ever put freakin video up on their website. If not, we're waiting on a dvd copy.
http://abclocal.go.com/ktrk/video?id=6404441 (http://abclocal.go.com/ktrk/video?id=6404441)
hope this is part of it... enjoy
That's the aircrew sortie from a few days before. Took the same reporter with us on a GT sortie to Tiki Island. Tiki is bayside of the I45 bridge into Galveston. Bottom floors are built w/ breakaway walls, which are all washed out just as designed, lots of damage, debris piles 8ft+ all along most of the roads like snow drifts up north.
The report starts out talking about potentially dangerous situation, EPIRBs still going off all over town, degrades ability of sats & rescuers to pinpoint actual emergencies. Shows some generalized UDF type stuff being explained, then 2-3mins of me snagging an EPIRB off a really nice 30ft+ offshore sport fishing boat (that's piled up sideways between two houses, pretty well screwing all the above. (Guy on the bow end of the boat just closed on that house 4wks prior to the storm.); explaining the beacon, why we need to turn them off, coordinating with CG, overview of what we've been doing, etc.
It looks pretty cool. We're waiting on a dvd, and I understand NHQ will post the video clip when they get their copy.
okay... sounds cool....