Air Operations Branch Director Course U.S. AIR FORCE AUXILIARY Air Operations Branch Director Course Inter-agency Operations

Expect to Work with Other Agencies

Who’s in charge? Sometimes CAP is lead agency, reporting directly to AFRCC ELT Search Interstate missing aircraft Intrastate missing aircraft (delegated to CAP from HSEM) Other times, CAP assists In Minnesota, by law, each sheriff is responsible for search and rescue in his/her county; The sheriff is often the IC.

Who’s in charge? Command and control of CAP personnel and resources always remains within CAP CAPF 104 Clearance CAP Air Branch tracks flight

Multiple Wings Usually, RCC will generally appoint one IC as overall IC for all CAP resources. That IC is then the point of contact for RCC Other wings can provide resources and personnel to assist

Where does CAP fit in a larger incident organization? More than one possibility Entire CAP organization placed in one part of incident organization CAP personnel spread throughout incident organization In case of missing aircraft search we would likely be in lead role with other agencies supporting

CAP organization in one functional area Perhaps CAP is providing just one kind of resource (like aircraft) CAP officer in charge (a qualified agency liaison officer) may be incident Air Branch or CAP Air Branch Director Advantage: easy to understand lines of command CAP CAP

CAP organization in many roles CAP ALO (agency liaison officer) acts as agency representative on IC command staff ALO maintains ability to exercise command and control with CAP members throughout organization CAP must still control its own dispatch and flight release procedures, so it must have personnel assigned in operations (perhaps as deputies or branch directors) CAP CAP CAP CAP CAP CAP

Interagency Specific Procedures MNICS Coast Guard Auxiliary

Minnesota Incident Command System (MNICS) “All Risk” Aviation Operations Plan

Participants Minnesota Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Management- HSEM MN Dept. of Public Safety- State Patrol Minnesota Wing, Civil Air Patrol – US Air Force Auxiliary MN Dept. of Natural Resources – Enforcement- DNR MN Army National Guard Air Medical Council- EMS MN Dept. of Natural Resources-Forestry- DNR US Forest Service-Fire- USFS US Fish and Wildlife Service- USFWS Bureau of Indian Affairs- BIA Media County Sheriffs

Past “All Risk” Events Involving Aircraft from Multiple Agencies 1997 Floods St. Peter Tornado Andover Fire Katie Poerer Search 1999 4th of July Blow-down Storm

Concept All air-operations missions are potentially multi-agency Even an ELT search! (Perhaps there is an actual crash, and the news media is already there) Need protocol for inter-agency communications to keep air operations safe

Status - 2009 New Draft SAR Annex added to All Risk Plan Recognizes need for on-the-ground coordination of SAR air operations Differentiates between small search areas (<10 miles across) and larger ones Use of air-to-air communication for coordination and separation ineffective for large area operations Recommends coordination with MIAFC Aviation Desk for operations north of Twin Cities

Initial Response Air-to-air tactical frequency 122.75 MHz — “All Risk” 122.925 MHz — Wild-land fire Announce direction of entry into incident when 10 miles out Other aircraft at scene will inform incoming aircraft of their presence, position, mission, and whether or not an Air Tactical Group Supervisor is functioning yet

Initial Response (cont.) Air to air briefings on 122.9 if tactical frequency is too busy

Air Tactical Group Supervisor Airborne Coordinates All Airborne Aircraft Responsible to manage separation and safety First aircraft onto the scene will normally assume the role until formally handing off responsibility or leaving the scene

AIR TACTICAL GROUP SUPERVISOR Extended responses: AIR TACTICAL GROUP SUPERVISOR Air Tactical Group Supervisor has two assisting coordinators AIR TANKER / FIXED WING COORDINATOR HELICOPTER COORDINATOR

Air-Tanker/Fixed-Wing Coordinator Typically airborne position on large incidents Coordinates airborne fixed-wing aircraft Reports to Air Tactical Group Supervisor

Helicopter Coordinator Can be in the air or on the ground Coordinates all airborne helicopters (tactical or logistical missions) Reports to Air Tactical Group Supervisor

Complex Missions Communications frequency plans exist to support more complex missions These plans allow simultaneous separate incidents (or geographic divisions) to communicate without conflicting The plans change with time Mission staff should coordinate with the Minnesota Interagency Fire Center to determine the current frequency plans Plans have been identified by color. (Example on next two slides) Air Tactical Group Supervisor and/or Air Support Group Supervisor will decide when and if to use the communications plans.

Purple Plan 118.775 MHz (aircraft band) Air to air tactical 170.000 MHz (CAP FM Ch 34) Air to air briefings if 118.775 is too busy

Gold Plan 119.625 MHz (aircraft band) Air to air tactical 167.950 MHz (CAP FM Ch 35) Air to air briefings if 119.625 is too busy

Other Frequencies for Joint Operations 122.900 MHz (aircraft band) CTAF for air strips without other frequencies designated 122.925 MHz (aircraft band) Air to air and air to ground designated “natural resources” frequency and Air to air Canadian border area, two miles either side of border 123.975 MHz (aircraft band) Air to ground – air tanker base operations within 10 miles of base

DNR Flight Following Channels Programmed into MN Wing FM Radios MIFC Air Net Point to Point MIFC Air Net East Repeater (Eveleth) MIFC Air Net West Repeater (Northome) MIFC Air Net South Repeater (Quadna) Superior Dispatch

US Coast Guard Auxiliary Possible Joint Operations with CAP Search and Rescue Disaster Relief (river spills, etc.) Homeland Security (border operations, etc.)

CG Auxiliary Communications MN Wing CAP Aircraft FM radios are programmed for Marine band use Altitude Restriction: 1000 ft AGL Frequencies Initial Contact on Marine Channel 16 (CAP FM Ch 29) Working Channel is Marine Channel 83 (CAP FM Ch 31)

CG Auxiliary Communications Making Contact If possible, make contact with a fixed station first “Coast Guard Auxiliary Station Prescott, this is CAPFlight 2143” Then contact “facilities” [boats] on patrol “US Coast Guard Auxiliary 1 6 9, this is CAPFlight 2143”

Describing Navigation Information CG Auxiliary personnel usually describe locations in terms of “river miles” They should be able to convert to Lat & Long for us If not, ask CAP mission base or CG Aux. station to convert River charts showing both river miles and lat/long are available to download from US Army Corps of Engineers

CG Auxiliary Vocab 101 Bow-rider – runabout with seats in an open bow Cigarette boat – narrow fast powerboat Coxswain – facility [boat] crew commander Cruiser – luxury boat with interior cabin Deck boat – boat with single deck and rails Facility – boat [esp. a Coast Guard or CGA boat] Flotilla – Coast Guard local organizational unit PFD – personal floatation device Runabout – powerboat smaller than 25 ft with outboard engine

Questions?