JOINT BASE SAN ANTONIO-RANDOLPH, Texas –
Whenever an emergency occurs, the Joint Base San Antonio Command Post is the unit active-duty members, civilian personnel and commanders rely on to keep them informed on what’s going on.
Nestled in a basement of a building at JBSA-Fort Sam Houston, the command post is a 24-hour, seven-day operation that monitors communications of security forces and emergency responders throughout JBSA. The post will notify Brig. Gen. Heather Pringle, 502nd Air Base Wing and JBSA commander, of any emergency situation that arises and alert active-duty and civilian personnel through AtHoc. AtHoc is an installation and warning system, which is part of the Air Education and Training Command Emergency Mass Notification.
Senior Master Sgt. Torrie Perry, 502nd ABW and JBSA Command Post superintendent, said members of the command post keep commanders informed of what’s happening at the JBSA installations.
“We are the eyes and ears of the commanders,” Perry said.
The command post alerts active-duty and civilian members of any emergencies at JBSA – whether it’s a natural disaster, severe weather, aircraft accident, active-shooter or terroristic incident – through emails, popup alerts, phone messages and texts that are circulated through the AtHoc system and the giant voice systems located at all JBSA locations. As required by the Department of Defense, the Command Post must alert JBSA active-duty and civilian members within 10 minutes after an emergency is reported.
In addition, the Command Post helps coordinates efforts to respond to emergencies at JBSA, Perry said.
“We are the connection piece for all the emergency responders at JBSA,” he said.
Perry said the command post is responsible for activating the Emergency Operations Center, or EOC. The EOC is comprised of JBSA first responders, including security forces and fire emergency personnel, and JBSA Emergency Management, who go out to mitigate any type of incident or emergency. In an emergency, Perry serves as a liaison between the EOC and the crisis action team, or CAT, comprised of top JBSA commanders and leaders who manage the communication flow and ensure the EOC has the support and resources to manage an emergency at the scene, from an aircraft crash to a natural disaster.
Master Sgt. Albert Hughes, 502 ABW and JBSA command post NCO in charge, said all types of information and notifications come through the Command Post.
“We are the nerve center for information flow at JBSA,” Hughes said.
The Command Post relays FPCON and INFOCON notifications, warning orders and operations orders to JBSA members, deployment orders to active-duty members who are about to be deployed and sends out heat stress warnings to commanders and instructors of basic military trainees at JBSA-Lackland. Also, the command post receives and notifies unit commanders of calls from family members who want to notify an active-duty member of a death in the family.
The JBSA command post's Emergency Action Cell, which monitors communications throughout JBSA, is linked to all command post units in the world and is set up to send emergency reports to Headquarters Air Education and Training Command and to Chief of Staff of the Air Force at the Pentagon.
All nine members of the Command Post unit go through a certified training process approved by the 502nd ABW commander, Perry said.
Perry said working at the Command Post presents different situations and problems that have to be dealt with on a daily basis. Several weeks ago, a dorm at the Medical Education Training Center at JBSA-Fort Sam Houston was flooded because of rain event and the Command Post activated the CAT team to find a shelter site for 800 students.
“Every day you come in there is a new challenge,” he said. “I think the one good thing our Airmen get to see is the big picture and the impact they have on the rest of the wing. We are the glue that holds everything together.”