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RODEO 2009: Air Force's newest mobile air shelter part of new event

  • Published
  • By Airman 1st Class Amber Kelly-Herard
  • RODEO 2009 Public Affairs
MCCHORD AIR FORCE BASE, Wash. --  When disaster strikes, it is not always near an airfield. So, what happens when there is a contingency where the Air Force does not already have a command post? HELAMS happens.

HELAMS, which stands for Hardside Expandable Light Air Mobile Shelter, is a command and control mobile air shelter designed to be set up on a new airfield within 48 hours. HELAMS is the Air Force's newest mobile air shelter in use and this was the first year HELAMS was featured at RODEO since its induction into the Air Force inventory since 2003.

Two units competed in the HELAMS event, the 615th Contingency Response Wing from Travis Air Force Base, Calif., and the 621st CRW from McGuire AFB, N.J.

Tech. Sgt. Steven Holcomb, from Headquarters Air Mobility Command's Air, Space and Information Operations Section and the command's HELAMS subject matter expert at Scott AFB, Ill., explained the competitions are judged on how the teams set up the structure. "The clock stops when they establish satellite communications with headquarters. They also have to take it back down as if they were deploying again."

HELAMS is replacing the Air Force's previous mobile shelter, the MARC, or Mobile Air Reporting Communications, which has been in use since the mid-1980s.

"It's 50 percent bigger, 30 percent lighter, and it can hold SPICE (Small Package Initial Communications Element)," Sergeant Holcomb said.

The weather resistant and climate-controlled HELAMS can also be used as a triage or a secure place for classified briefs and communications and operations security.

"This has been a great training opportunity for us," said Staff Sgt. John Olson, from the 819th Global Support Squadron at McGuire. "We normally only use HELAMS for exercises and displays, but this lets us use it more like in a deployed situation."

Sergeant Holcomb said having this event in RODEO helps build on the lessons learned for future use with HELAMS in the field. "It ensures that we train the way we fight," he said. "We gain lessons learned and training from this. That alone justifies having this event in RODEO."