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SALINA, Kan. - “Space, the final frontier.”
The Star Trek
intro would be appropriate as the Army incorporates more space
capabilities into its operations, including domestic emergency
response operations.
The use of space operations was tested
during the multi-state emergency response exercise Vigilant Guard
2014 hosted by the Kansas National Guard as part of Joint Task Force
Santa Fe, in Salina, Kansas, Aug. 4-7.
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August 7, 2014 - Capt. Jennifer Staton, a space operations officer,
Sgt. Cassandra Quinones and Pfc. Miranda Yost, geospatial engineers,
use mapping software during the multi-state large-scale, natural
disaster emergency response exercise Vigilant Guard 2014, hosted by
the Kansas National Guard in Salina, Kan., Aug. 4-7, 2014. The
Soldiers are a part of Army Space Support Team 30, 117th Space
Support Battalion with the Colorado National Guard. (Photo by Capt.
Benjamin Gruver, 105th Mobile Public Affairs Detachment)
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“Space operations and the capabilities that we normally
bring to wartime are fairly new to the domestic operations
realm for Kansas,” said Lt. Col. Eric Bishop, chief of the
Space Support Element, 35th Infantry Division.
Those
capabilities essentially being satellite and geospatial
imaging, with a gamut of software programs used to provide
data quickly so leaders can determine solutions to problems.
Augmenting Kansas' small contingent of three personnel was
Army Space Support Team 30, 117th Space Support Battalion,
Colorado National Guard, a unit unique to Colorado.
“They have a lot more experience than we have,” said Bishop.
“We are still learning, so having them here with their
expertise is a great opportunity.”
The Colorado team
consisting of two space operations officers, two geospatial
engineers, a satellite communications systems
operator/maintainer and information technology specialist
were able to bring a new dynamic to an area of the exercise
that can only be simulated.
“We are able to define
the situation and help our domestic operations and civil
authorities by providing them information that before this
exercise Kansas had not been able to do,” said Bishop.
One way the ASST was able to help was in the area of flooding.
The team was able to use a real world terrain map of the Neosho
River and do analysis of the flooding at different stages.
“They are able to look at the computer and, given the stage level,
could tell you exactly whether this house would be flooded or this
bridge would be under water,” said Bishop.
During the
exercise, planners were asking for specific locations of service
members and trying to determine which areas could safely be managed
by local emergency responders and which areas needed Guardsmen
deployed to support the hardest hit areas.
The benefit of
using space technologies, according to Capt. Kevin Trabert, the team
leader for ASST 30, is that the information can be provided quickly
from a safe location away from the dangers.
In addition to
the flooding, the team was able to simulate the plume from a leak at
a chemical plant and show areas directly impacted and in need of
evacuation. The information and products the ASST was able to
provide enhanced the areas of the exercise that were more difficult
to simulate.
“There is no real way to simulate what a
destroyed city is going to look like from a tornado unless we use an
example from recent history,” said Trabert. “So the way we've been
kind of doing that is with a lot of extras on the map to make it
look like the areas are damaged to try to bring some of that
exercise to the real world.”
The ASST was not only able to enhance the Vigilant Guard
exercise, but brought along their real experience in using space
technologies in emergency response operations.
“In Colorado,
we supported the Black Forest fire last summer which was a very
large fire on the outskirts of Colorado Springs,” said Trabert,
explaining that it was one of the largest evacuations in Colorado
history with almost 30,000 people evacuated at one point.
ASST 30 was able to provide imagery of the fire and used satellite
sensors to pick up heat energy to show exactly where the fire was.
They were also able to integrate that with the Blue Force Tracking
system military forces use overseas to track emergency responders.
“We really appreciate using the ASST,” said Bishop. “They were a
huge asset during Vigilant Guard, bringing with them the experience
of having already responded in that role to other domestic
emergencies.”
By U.S. Army Capt. Benjamin Gruver
Provided
through DVIDS
Copyright 2014
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