Team Edwards set to train for AFIMS

  • Published
  • By Chuck McKinley
  • 95th Civil Engineer and Transportation Directorate
EDWARDS AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. --  The Air Force Flight Test Center Inspector General Readiness office is conducting Air Force Incident Management System trainings at the base theater Monday and Tuesday at 8 a.m. and 3 p.m. 

Members of the Disaster Response Force are required to attend one of the mandatory local procedures training. All other personnel, both military and civilian, are welcome to attend to learn more about AFIMS. 

The AFIMS is a renaming and realigning of the military services in response to the Homeland Security Presidential Directive 5, which is designed to provide a consistent nationwide approach for federal, state, local and tribal governments to work effectively and efficiently together to prepare for, prevent, respond to and recover from domestic incidents; regardless of cause, size, or complexity. 

It is the Air Force's version of the National Incident Management System and was created to manage the uniqueness of military command and control during peacetime and contingency operations. AFIMS will realign the procedures the Air Force utilizes when responding to a disaster scene. Additionally, AFIMS will implement crisis management utilizing many of the bases' unit control centers, as well as provide support to the Incident Commander via the Emergency Operations Center which is comprised of 15 Emergency Support Functions. 

This training will not be without growing pains. New directives have been written, training will increase and Airmen will have to adjust to new terminology and concepts, as well as redefining how our forces will respond to emergency situations. 

Training will be the key to implementing this program. Members of the Disaster Response Force are required to complete the online emergency response operations training course. While the ERO training is being undertaken, members of the 95th Air Base Wing Civil Engineer and Transportation Directorate, Readiness and Emergency Management office are localizing the Comprehensive Emergency Management Plan 10-2, developing supporting checklists and preparing local procedure training for all members of the DRF. 

Full implementation of AFIMS will occur throughout this year and is required to be complete by December 2007. This timetable will focus on the development of policy, guidance, planning templates, inspection and evaluation criteria, fielding of training products, including the AFIMS Implementation Key Leaders Guide and exercises to identify and resolve Edwards' capability deficiencies. 

When AFIMS is fully implemented, the military will be able to operate jointly with each other as well as civilian counterparts in federal, state, local and tribal governments. AFIMS will also utilize the same concepts on and off the battlefield, making transition smoother for new members of the DRF. 

(Vincent Doss contributed to this article)