Guard Mobilizes For Fire Fighting Support

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Story & photos by MAJ Debra Allen   -   Posted Aug, 2001

Washington National Guard units are mobilizing to support the fire fighting efforts in Okanogan, Spokane, Chelan, Yakima, and Ferry counties.  Behind the scenes, the Joint Operations Center, located only a short walk across the Camp Murray campus from the Washington State Emergency Management Division's new facility, takes the requests for support from civilian agencies and converts them to missions for National Guard units.  The Joint Operations Center, or JOC, is the first response element of the Washington National Guard.

Officers and NCOs man the Washington National Guard's Joint Operations Center (JOC) 24/7

As soon as an emergency situation occurs, JOC personnel are brought in to coordinate Guard units.  Their work doesn't end until the emergency is under control.  First in... last to go home.

The staff brings together Air and Army Guard representatives from several functional areas, such as aviation, operations, logistics, and personnel.  Their skills, along with computers, telephones, radios and satellite mapping, allow them to monitor the emergency situation, the weather, to track all soldiers and equipment and to develop contingency plans to meet anticipated requirements.

   

Early Friday morning, the local television stations came out to cover the departure of Washington Army National Guardsmen from their facilities on Fort Lewis, to the fire camps in Okanogan County.  These Guardsmen are part of the 66th Aviation Brigade, and will provide transportation and maintenance support to our helicopters already operating in the area.  As soon as this latest convoy arrived in the fire area they were immediately pressed into service moving civilian firefighters up to the fire line.

Media gets a rare look at the nerve center of the Washington National Guard

In the process of reporting on the convoy, the media got a rare glimpse of the dedicated Guardsmen who man the JOC. This dedicated staff of senior officers and NCOs are working around the clock, planning and coordinating current and future Guard support to the fire fighting effort.  The people in the JOC take their mission of ensuring the safety and well being of our Guardsmen, while helping to protect lives and property, very seriously.  They may work in the background, but their efforts are certainly felt right up to the fire line.

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