Crisis in Haiti – SITREP 18 January 2010

As of 1200 EDT today (18 January) local Auxiliary support of the USCG Haiti Relief Joint Information Center (JIC) located at District 7 (D7) HQ in Miami continues.  To date, the bulk of support for this operation is coming from local Auxiliary personnel from D7 Divisions 3 and 6, with the exception of the social media initiative which is being handled by Ryan Bank, BC-ARN and his team.

Two shifts (AM/PM) of Auxiliarists continue to provide support to the JIC.  Today is the second day in which most USCG Public Affairs Officers (PAO) are forward deployed to the Haiti area of responsibility, substantial support continues to provided by Auxiliary members.  This landscape will change depending on the deployment schedules of active duty PAO’s.  Auxiliary support is presently scheduled at least through Thursday, 21JAN and may be extended based on projected JIC needs.

On-site challenges for Auxiliary personnel responding include:

1. No on-site parking,  Auxiliary members must park at nearby public garage at costs sometimes greater than $15 per shift/member.
2. Limited on-site computer workstations, many members must bring their own laptops and wireless access cards to perform duty.
3. The Apple Mac software platform is used by CG public affairs.  This is causing problems for those members who only have PC/Windows experience and causes a learning curve which is difficult to address without pulling resources off other tasking to provide training.
4. No set protocol for file naming and storage.  Members from later shifts are having problems locating documents produced and electronically stored by previous shifts.  Significant “hunting and pecking” involved in locating previous files.

ANALYSIS: Many of these issues can be addressed via the after action analysis when this event is completed.   However, preliminary findings indicate potential value in the development of an Auxiliary “Logistics Corps” which could be positioned similar to the Interpreter Corps.  Members of the “Logistics Corps” would ideally have diverse technology skills ranging from basic business software applications such as MS Office, to more advanced skills such as Adobe CS4, Web/Network development, and other applications of a highly specialized nature.  Logistics Corps members should also have a comprehensive understanding of the ICS structure and could be called upon to provide support as well as standard CG administrative support to units during non-emergency situations.

 

~GJA 01-18-10