Forging stronger EM partners

COLUMBUS AFB, Miss. - Representatives from the Navy, Air National Guard, Mississippi Emergency Management Agency, AmeriCorps, Federal Aviation Administration, and Monroe, Clay and Oktibbeha counties in Mississippi, gathered to discuss ways to forge stronger emergency management (EM) relationships between regional and state agencies. The product is of the Secretary of the Air Force’s Public-Public, Public-Private Partnership initiative. The community has been working with the “P4” initiative since early summer workshops facilitated by a Pentagon team. The 1st Air Force’s (AF Northern, which is based at Tyndall AFB, Fla.) Emergency Preparedness Liaison Officer briefed here to capitalize on an opportunity to share the Defense Support to Civil Authorities topic with state and civil emergency management counterparts. The goal was designed to help involved agencies have a better understanding of operations between federal and civil assistance during a large scale disaster. MEMA response team provided an overview of its operations and after-action report from the Marine Corps’ KC-130 crash in Leflore County, Miss., back on July 10. The FAA's Aviation Safety Inspector also shared information on policy for unmanned aerial systems (drones) and how they can legally be used in support of emergency situations. (Source: 14th Fighter Training Wing 09/26/17)