Alaska Shield - Ardent Sentry 2014 Recap

Post date: Apr 08, 2014 5:32:19 AM

Alaska Shield 2014 (AS14) was a large, regional exercise conducted March 27 to April 3.  It was timed to occur on the 50th anniversary of the Great Alaska Quake of 1964 and as such was centered in Anchorage.  There were many linked exercises: Ardent Sentry, Vigilant Guard, Artic Edge, Turbo Challenge, Ultimate Caduceus, Mobile Lifesaver, Artic Care, and CRME-LOGEX.  The linked exercises were conducted largely independent of FEMA but with their coordination and allowed other governmental emergency response agencies and functions to participate in a large focused training exercise.   PCR-CAP was part of Ardent Sentry and sponsored by NORTHCOM.

FEMA is now in an evaluation phase prior to beginning another stage of the exercise called Silver Phoenix TTX that is composed of Alaska Recovery TTX and then Capstone Recovery TTX. All stages will be complete by the end of April.  Lest FEMA rests/recovers, another large regional exercise started planning as soon the planning for Alaska Shield was completed many months ago  – stay tuned.

CAP's Alaska Wing, of course, was the primary focus for Ardent Sentry but also participating were WAWG and ORWG.  All wings were tasked for aerial photo recon missions.  AKWG photo targets were largely pre-determined and were mostly population centers but ORWG and WAWG were left to devise their own training regimens. Rather than just take the same ol’ photos of overpasses, dams, and the like ad nauseam, Maj Wayne Humphrey, WAWG DOH and I met with the FEMA Region X GIS group in Bothell, WA and asked if they have any specific requests.  They immediately jumped on the opportunity and requested shoreline photos in both Oregon and Washington in support of coastal flood studies; that is, understanding the geomorphology of the beach areas.

Both ORWG and WAWG were largely weathered out. WAWG got in three sorties and ORWG reverted to a single ground sortie.  You can view all of the photos from Alaska, Washington and Oregon on the following sites (I do not know how long the links will be viable):

These are publically available and open to everyone so no passwords are required.

For WA and OR, use this link: http://bit.ly/1h2ivsV

For AK, use this link: http://bit.ly/OHWNDz

Center the map over the desired area and use the “+” button to enlarge the area. Click on a single green dot to upload the associated photo. Enjoy.

John Reno, Lt Col, CAP

DOS, Washington Wing