LACKLAND AIR FORCE BASE, Texas –
On July 16, Team Lackland conducted a Natural Disaster Response Exercise to prepare for the hurricane season.
Because Air Force instruction does not require a field exercise for natural disasters, the Team Lackland Crisis Action Team and its emergency operations center held meetings with the San Antonio EOC to ensure contingency plans were in place in case the city had to support hurricane victims.
"We went with the folks from the Lackland CAT and Col. Bob LaBrutta (37th Mission Support Group commander) and some of his folks who work in the EOC at Lackland, and we went over situations that might happen on our end with the weather," said Maj. Duane Bowen, Lackland's liaison to the San Antonio EOC.
According to Major Bowen, Lackland could expect to receive up to 3,000 members of the Navy and the Coast Guard from the southern coastal areas of Texas.
"We have an agreement to receive around 3,000 Department of Defense card holders and that was the majority of the exercise. Most of them would be coming from the Corpus Christi area," Major Bowen said.
While Lackland can host people, it also offers support to San Antonio.
"We act as liaison to the city, so we must also be ready to help them receive people," Major Bowen said.
Port San Antonio and the Kelly Training Annex are used to park ambulances and school busses in case they are needed to transport civilians out of disaster areas.
"Those vehicles are in place for people who cannot self evacuate. Some people do not have their own vehicles and others are not able to drive.
"San Antonio could expect to see up to 9,000 people with special needs who are in hospitals or similar care facilities," Major Bowen said.
The Lackland and San Antonio EOC usually have contingency plans in place 120 hours before a hurricane hits land.
"We have dormitories that are being remodeled, so the folks at MSG did one more go through to check what was available for space," Major Bowen said.