186th ARW gets hurricane ready

TYNDALL AFB, Fla. - With an eye on hurricane preparedness and response capability, the Tyndall-based Air Forces Northern (AFNORTH) command participated May 11-17 in the annual Defense Support of Civil Authorities exercise, Ardent Sentry 2018 (AS-18), to grow its force of trained crisis responders. In response-capability mode, AFNORTH personnel oversaw reactions from the Meridian, Miss.-based 186th Air Refueling Wing cadre to simulate a hurricane while implementing lessons learned from the 2017 season. The 186th ARW “provided us support last year during the hurricane season,” said Chuck Stem, AFNORTH lead exercise planner, “but the unit has a number of new personnel who now have the opportunity to train alongside AFNORTH experts sent here to Meridian.” After the exercise, the Key Field Air National Guard Base in Meridian will be better prepared to augment AFNORTH and to take the lead during a hurricane response if Tyndall personnel are required to evacuate. Last fall, AFNORTH personnel worked continuously for 97 days in support of relief efforts - search and rescue, air mobility and airlift, medical, logistics - after hurricanes Harvey, Irma, and Maria heavily impacted primarily Florida, Puerto Rico, Texas and the Virgin Islands. (Source: AFNORTH 05/08/18) The Tyndall-based command is comprised of five direct-reporting units, 10 aligned Air National Guard units, 1,400 Civil Air Patrol units, and a large number of active air-defense alert sites encompassing 15,000 Active Duty, National Guard, Air Force Reserve, and Canadian Forces. The Atlantic-Gulf Coast hurricane season starts June 1.