JOINT BASE LANGLEY-EUSTIS, Va. –
The 733rd Mission Support Group will conduct a hurricane category 1-2 exercise (HUREX 15) May 20, 2015, at Fort Eustis, Virginia.
The exercise will test Joint Base Langley Eustis' emergency management plan, communication and reporting procedures between Fort Eustis and Langley Air Force Base while preparing the installations for hurricane season.
"We're testing community readiness and making sure everyone is onboard because it really takes a community to prepare for hurricane challenges," said Nyoka Robinson, 733rd Mission Support Division Emergency Management specialist. "We mainly want to collaborate with all of the exercise players to ensure everyone knows who is responsible for the different functions."
Throughout the exercise, personnel at Fort Eustis can expect shelter-in-place procedures, but there will be no other disruption to regular base operations as all injects testing evacuation, response and shelter will be simulated not requiring emergency response movements, said Albert Collins, 733rd MSD Emergency Management specialist.
The exercise will also test what resources emergency support functions and the community need to safely prepare and respond to a real-world natural disaster, said Collins.
"We're here to educate the community, be a support to them and provide them with whatever resources or tools they need to prepare," said Robinson. "We have to test our plan to make sure we have all the procedures and policies in place to provide the service needed."
For Robinson, annual exercises testing natural disasters is a necessity especially because this area has been effected by hurricanes Sandy and Irene in recent years leading to high wind and water damage at JBLE.
"Whether it's the wind or the water, we are definitely susceptible to these types of natural disasters. I don't think anyone is resilient to natural disasters, so you can't be too prepared, which is why it is so important to plan and conduct these exercises," said Robinson. "There is always something we can do to improve what we already have."
For information about hurricane preparedness, visit
www.jble.af.mil/library/hurricaneinformation/index.asp.