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Snow requires JB MDL to implement safety measures

  • Published
  • By Airman 1st Class Sean M. Crowe
  • Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst Public Affairs
JOINT BASE MCGUIRE-DIX-LAKEHURST, N.J. --  Anyone who has experienced a New Jersey winter should be familiar with the feeling of waking up in a warm bed before stepping out into the powdery white wonderland of snow which has been all too familiar this season. With that in mind, try to empathize with the service members here who wake up before everyone else, leave the comforting warmth, drive through the unplowed snow and work tirelessly to ensure others can travel safely to work, the fitness center or the commissary on base.

Weather conditions may prompt several Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, N.J., organizations to determine road and reporting conditions to ensure the safety of JB MDL community members. With the interagency cooperation comes an organized effort to provide the community with the best informed decision in the timeliest manner possible.

The Joint Base Command Post, 87th Security Forces Squadron, 305th Operations Support Squadron Weather Flight, 87th Civil Engineer Squadron Snow Team, 87th Logistics Readiness Squadron and JB MDL Public Affairs contribute information to senior leaders so they can make an informed decision to determine road and reporting conditions during inclement weather.

The 305th OSS Weather Flight is the natural origin who initially forecasts significant weather five days before the event and sets the chain of events into motion to plan accordingly for the base.

"We will begin to notify the commanders and key organizations who need to know approximately five days preceding the weather event," said Staff Sgt. Jerrod Smith, Weather Flight forecaster. "From that point, our job is to update our weather forecasts twice daily, ensure we have proper manning and extend operation hours as necessary."

The weather is constantly changing during the time leading up to a significant weather event, which can drastically change the impact it has on the installation. Accurate forecasting allows the commanders and proper organizations to plan accordingly and make informed decisions.

The 305th OSS Weather Flight informs the 87th SFS and 87th CES so they can contribute current road status and recommendations to senior leaders so they can plan accordingly, make better informed decisions and prepare base personnel for the moving pieces inherent with changing weather and road conditions.

Security forces patrol members observe conditions at major intersections, paying special attention to ice existence and snow accumulation. The patrol personnel then report those conditions and make a recommendation for road conditions to leadership, said Senior Master Sgt. Steven Thompson, 87th SFS operations superintendent from Peoria, Ill.

The 87th CES Snow Team provides conditions to Security Forces also, including current and projected road conditions.

For a complete description of road condition thresholds, visit http://www.jointbasemdl.af.mil/inclementweather.asp.

"Many factors including road salt distribution, plowing progress and forecasted upcoming weather contribute to our recommendation," said Senior Master Sgt. Thaddeus Gravely, 87th CES operations superintendent from Martinsville, Va. "Additionally, we advise any delayed reporting or early-release procedures if reporting would interfere with snow removal operations."

All organizations funnel information which ultimately ends up at the snow meeting or conference call, which is often at 4 a.m., where base leaders convene and weigh all factors and the consequences of road and reporting conditions before coming to a conclusion. The commanders consider many factors such as the local road conditions off base, reporting status of local schools and the impact on the major missions at JB MDL.

Col. Elizabeth Eidal, 87th Mission Support Group commander, is the head of the meeting and makes a recommendation to Col. James Hodges, JB MDL commander, who makes the ultimate decision.

Once a decision has been reached in the snow meeting, notification procedures are initiated. The task of notifying the base populace begins with the Command Post, followed by JB MDL Public Affairs.

Command Post is the first agency leadership notifies whenever a change to road and reporting conditions has been implemented. They fulfill an imperative roll in operations by performing command and control, ensuring every agency has the most current and accurate information in addition to establishing communication between them.

"The 87th MSG commander notifies Command Post of any condition change and the reason for the change," said Airman Damani Blair, Command Post controller, who hails from Tobyhanna, Pa. "Our first priority is to notify the agencies that need to know: Snow Team, Public Affairs, Security Forces. From there, they can disseminate information and make any adjustments as needed. We also use the AtHoc mass notification system to inform the public."

The base populace can receive information about road and reporting conditions from sources including the JB MDL social media (Facebook and Twitter), public website, MyBaseGuide smartphone application, base information lines (609) 754-BASE(2273) and (732) 323-SNOW(7669), the base marquee system and the AtHoc mass notification system which distributes notifications to emails, phones and computers community members utilize. Service members should always check with their chains of command as a first resource for reporting conditions.

JB MDL Public Affairs springs into action to disseminate the information upon notification using all available communication outlets. The primary outlet which has the most up-to-date information is the JB MDL Facebook page. Other outlets, including the information lines, marquee system and public website, take longer to update due to the nature of those methods.

Once the public is notified and precautions are set into place, the service members at JB MDL begin the snow management and removal process.

The ever-changing nature of significant weather causes factors to change during the decision and communication process, but JB MDL leadership and service members work arduously to decide the base status and inform the public, all while keeping safety a top priority.

The snow removal burden rests heavily on the shoulders of the snow team and aircraft maintainers.

Read more about snow removal in the article in the following link: http://www.jointbasemdl.af.mil/news/story.asp?id=123376071