All in a day's work: Emergency management

  • Published
  • By Master Sgt. Scott T. Sturkol
  • 380th Air Expeditionary Wing Public Affairs
SOUTHWEST ASIA --  Staff Sgt. Brian Garrigan is an emergency management craftsman with the 380th Expeditionary Civil Engineer Squadron at a non-disclosed base here.

Sergeant Garrigan is deployed from the 4th Civil Engineer Squadron at Seymour-Johnson Air Force Base, N.C., and his hometown is Newfield, N.H. As a civil engineering emergency manager for the 380th ECES, he supports civil engineer operations plans for mobility, response and recovery for deployed base of more than 1,900 personnel.

According to his official Air Force job description, Sergeant Garrigan is trained in a myriad of abilities and capabilities which is important in completing his deployed duties and responsibilities. He is trained to prepare wartime and contingency response plans and conduct research and assist in developing disaster preparedness plans, including measures to minimize casualties and damage from natural disasters, major accidents, wartime operations and military operations other than war. He also coordinates actions to ensure prompt response during disaster operations, including immediate mobilization of all resources and participation of all agencies and organizations.

Emergency management Airmen like Sergeant Garrigan also coordinate actions to allow continuation or restoration of vital functions and operations. They prepare disaster preparedness annexes, appendices, supplement and other supporting documents to support operations plans. Additionally, they develop and maintain plans for contingency, mobility and recovery and analyze training and deficiencies for wartime tasks.

At a deployed location, Sergeant Garrigan monitors civil engineer readiness and installation disaster preparedness activities. He helps ensure disaster preparedness teams are established and manned and ensures authorized and required nuclear, biological and chemical protective equipment and clothing, detection devices and monitoring instruments are available, calibrated, and in operating condition.

Furthermore, the official job description shows civil engineer emergency response Airmen like Sergeant Garrigan manage unit and staff agency disaster preparedness programs and provide unit and staff agency assistance to ensure disaster preparedness planning and training have been accomplished and disaster preparedness directives are being followed.

Sergeant Garrigan can perform his civil engineer readiness and installation disaster preparedness functions while serving in a mobile or unit command post, survival recovery center, or NBC control center. In doing so, he is trained to monitor force protection and survivability and advises other readiness personnel of deployment and employment capabilities.

To do his deployed job, Sergeant Garrigan's job description states he maintain continuous job knowledge in the characteristics and effects of peacetime WMD and wartime conventional and NBC weapons and the detection and identification of NBC contamination. He must also maintain knowledge in threat analysis, passive defense measures, principles of contamination control, related technical information, policies, procedures, techniques, and equipment, and civil engineer readiness and contingency planning, training, operations, equipment supply procedures, directives and policies.

The 380th ECES is a sub-unit of the 380th AEW. The wing is home to the KC-10 Extender, U-2 Dragon Lady, E-3 Sentry and RQ-4 Global Hawk aircraft. The wing is comprised of four groups and 12 squadrons and the wing's deployed mission includes air refueling, surveillance and reconnaissance in support of overseas contingency operations in Southwest Asia. The 380th AEW supports operations Iraqi Freedom and Enduring Freedom and the Combined Joint Task Force-Horn of Africa.