JOINT BASE MCGUIRE-DIX-LAKEHURST, N.J. -- The ability to rapidly respond to time sensitive natural or man-made disasters may mean the difference between mission success or mission failure. When rapid response is critical, there is little time to properly react to the current situation and bring a staff “up to speed.” The Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, New Jersey, Crisis Action Team serves as the strategic command and control node for the entire joint base. The CAT provides strategic support to the Emergency Operations Center who functions as a central operations hub and ensures first responders and other base agencies have the resources they need to complete their tasks at the tactical level. The CAT also de-conflicts and prioritizes resources and assists the EOC with situational awareness, management and notifications. Both the EOC and CAT are aligned as part of the Disaster Response Force to protect and preserve installation personnel, resources and property.
Maintaining and running the JB MDL CAT is the responsibility of the 87th Air Base Wing Plans and Programs Directorate whose analysts serve as CAT executives for all duties associated with CAT operations upon activation. The primary mission of the CAT is continuity of operations for the joint base focusing on mission execution across the entire installation rather than single-focused management of an incident. The decision to activate the CAT in support of contingency operations is the sole responsibility of the JB MDL commander. The 2009, Base Realignment and Closure restructuring of JB MDL required the 87th ABW commander to be dual hatted by serving as both wing commander for normal day-to-day activities as well as the JB MDL commander in time of crisis. Given this unique line of authority, the 87th ABW commander controls the “life support” of the installation (food, fuel, housing, transportation, security, infrastructure, etc.) and has tasking authority over tenant commands and service components to ensure crisis resolution as the JB MDL commander.
The decision by the JB MDL commander to activate the CAT may be triggered by one of several factors. A directive from higher headquarters at Air Mobility Command, responding to active shooters, real-world contingencies such as major accident response or aircraft mishaps, adverse weather, terrorist activity, hurricane evacuation, full-scale exercise support, real-world force protection condition change, requests from sister wings or mission partners, or simply at the sole discretion of the JB MDL commander. Undoubtedly, the longest CAT activations were the JB MDL response to the 9/11 terrorist attacks in 2001, and more recently in response to the COVID pandemic in early 2020. Once an activation decision is made, the CAT can assemble within two hours in three different types of activation support postures.
The first and most common type of CAT activation is the Primary CAT, which is comprised of U.S. Air Force centric leaders and key leadership from both the 87th ABW and 305th Air Mobility Wing to respond and preserve life, property and continuity of the primary mission. The second type of CAT activation is the Mobility CAT designed for mobilizing and deploying personnel. The Mobility CAT includes all Primary CAT members but is expanded by adding skill sets and capabilities from additional key leaders and agencies from remaining U.S. Air Force assets and select partners throughout the installation. Lastly, the Joint Base CAT is the largest type of CAT activation and includes all Primary and Mobility CAT members but further expands capability and intent by including representatives from the remaining military components located throughout JB MDL in addition to adding representatives from the 88 JB MDL mission partners. This Joint Base CAT supports events that directly affects all our mission partners requiring their input to make timely decisions. In response to the 9/11 terrorist attacks, for example, the Joint Base CAT was activated for two months. In support of COVID, Joint Base CAT activation lasted more than six months, from March 13-Sept. 17, 2020. Since these two large-scale activations, the JB MDL CAT has gone through many procedural and operational changes. The JB MDL Command Control and Communication Support Plan was written and outlines agency command directives in the form of “Will” actions for contingency and emergency support operations on JB MDL. The C3P provides procedures for placing JB MDL in a readiness posture that facilitates a concentrated, timely application of resources to mitigate emerging situations while preserving continuity of the primary mission. It further defines the duties and responsibilities of the CAT, the Executive Support Staff and defines tasks associated with activating the CAT and supporting unit control centers.
The largest and most significant upgrade and improvement to CAT operations came on April 7, 2022, when AMC directed all subordinate installations and commanders to utilize the Command and Control Incident Management Emergency Response Application beginning in January 2023. C2MIERA is an automated U.S. Air Force C2 system with the ability to provide an integrated common operating picture for a large variety of installation resources available for employment, as well as increased situational awareness of incidents and events affecting installations. Hosted in the Department of Defense Mil Cloud-native system accessed through both .mil and commercial networks, this web-based system is currently being utilized within JB MDL CAT operations for planning, movements, force deployment, employment exercises, inspections, recall management and C2. C2MIERA is an enhanced push and pull system that allows the CAT the ability to observe an integrated composite picture of resources in real-time and provides a reliable means to manage emergency actions. JB MDL became the AMC test bed for implementing C2MIERA obtaining full mission capability in June 2024. In addition, C2MIERA serves as an AMC system of record by allowing AMC to observe and monitor JB MDL day-to-day activities and incident emergency response operations. The C2 system was designed to allow higher headquarters staff the ability to monitor the health and the status of individual installations and units under their control. Within JB MDL, C2IMERA is also utilized by the EOC and subordinate unit control centers during exercises and actual real-world events. C2MIERA provides senior leaders, decision makers, emergency first responders and functional users assembled in the CAT enhanced capability for C3P.
Currently, the CAT is installing secure video conferencing capability to conduct virtual secure meetings that protects the confidentiality, integrity and availability of the meeting's data and participants. The Secure Video Teleconferencing System will provide end-to-end encryption that is password protected for virtual communications with assets across the globe. JB MDL CAT checklists housed in C2MIERA are constantly being refined, updated and streamlined for improved operational efficiency. These CAT checklists serve as a tool that help key leaders carry out their assigned responsibilities during a crisis. Enabled by an established, collaborative network to increase secure and unclassified communications efficiency, the range of options for the CAT to respond to crisis situations is improved by an order of magnitude. Not only do these improvements and upgrades to the CAT improve JB MDL operational capability, they also save valuable planning time and resources allowing the CAT to review and analyze other focus areas throughout the joint base. This state-of-the-art facility increases JB MDL’s ability to plan for and support the execution of additional contingencies before they become a crisis.
Undoubtedly, JB MDL will continue to deliver efficient and effective installation support for military missions and contingency operations. By providing unrivaled installation support to all mission commanders and mission-ready, motivated, expeditionary military personnel to our combatant commanders, JB MDL is committed to remaining America's premier joint warfighting installation and the air mobility center of excellence. Through efficient and improved CAT capability to employ tailorable, adaptive mission planning tools that enhance the ability to operate within the military decision-making cycle, JB MDL key leaders and decision makers are more equipped to be proactive rather than reactive should a natural or man-made event occur requiring CAT activation and emergency response operations. This allows JB MDL forces to continue providing a premier joint and total force platform enabling global mobility across air, land, sea and cyber domains.