The weather outside is frightful

  • Published
  • By Staff Report
  • JBER Public Affairs
JOINT BASE ELMENDORF-RICHARDSON, Alaska --  This time of year, blizzard warnings, snow advisories, sleet, and winter storm warnings or heavy snow are not uncommon. While emergency kits and preparations can get you through, Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson has procedures for inclement weather.  

These procedures are based on conditions of the installation - not in Anchorage or the valley.

JBER has three reporting options when weather makes driving conditions dangerous for drivers: mission-essential reporting, delayed reporting and early release.

When mission-essential reporting is initiated, only mission-essential people, as determined by unit commanders and supervisors, are required to report to duty. Unit commanders must specifically identify who they determine is mission-essential in advance. If you have not been told, ask your supervisor. 

Delayed reporting means all members report for duty while exercising caution and arriving as soon as conditions permit. Expected reporting time will be specified, but it will normally be 10 a.m.

Unit commanders are responsible for managing early release within their organization when the commander initiates this action. The goal is to stagger departure times to alleviate congestion and to allow those who live farthest from the base to leave first.

These options give leadership the flexibility to balance safety and mission needs against the weather situation. When conditions at home are severe enough to warrant changes to normal reporting times and no option has been directed, personnel must coordinate with their supervisors and unit commanders to modify arrival times and work schedules.

When the commander decides to initiate any of these actions, the command post is notified, and disseminates the information and specific reporting procedures.

"We have three checklists we run to determine weather notifications, road conditions and delayed reporting," said Tech. Sgt. Bryan Chansler, 673d Air Base Wing Command Post senior emergency action controller. "Every morning, we coordinate with several agencies on base include Base Operations, Security Forces, and weather to prepare a report for [Air Force] Col. Franklin Howard [673d Mission Support Group commander] with recommendations from those agencies on what the road condition should be and whether delayed reporting should be considered. If Colonel Howard decides delayed reporting should be considered, he coordinates with the JBER and 673d Air Base Wing Commander, Col. Brian Bruckbauer."

To make the recommendations for the following reporting condition, Howard receives inputs from Base Operations, Command Post, Security Forces and the Anchorage Police Department to obtain a detailed status of the weather or road conditions. Howard also receives input from the Anchorage School District regarding school reporting hours in order to ensure maximum coordination between JBER and the ASD and to minimize the impact to members with school age children.

During that time, the 673d Civil Engineer Group commander, Col. Scott Matthews, receives input concerning road clearing operations and road condition.

"The 673d ABW commander provides the combined recommendation from the MSG commander and CEG commander to mission partners (3rd Wing, 176th Wing, U.S. Army Alaska, Alaska Air National Guard, etc.) to assess the impact to their respective missions," Howard said. "After discussion with the mission partners, the installation commander will make an informed decision to continue with normal operations or choose an option to alter duty hours."

For road conditions, there are four advisories for JBER.

Green: Roads are clear and dry. Drivers will comply with normal vehicle operating procedures and posted speed limits.

Amber: It has been determined that roads may be slippery due to snow, ice, or reduced visibility. Drivers will exercise caution.

Red: It has been determined that roads may be hazardous due to snow, ice, or reduced visibility. Drivers will exercise caution and reduce speeds by 10 miles per hour below the posted speed limit.

Black: It has been determined that road conditions are extremely hazardous due to ice, snow, or reduced visibility. Vehicle dispatching is prohibited unless directed by command authority. Only operate mission-essential and emergency response vehicles. Drivers will exercise extreme caution and reduced speeds by 10 miles per hour below the speed limit.

Bruckbauer has delegated to the 673d MSG commander the authority to activate or deactivate "amber" and "red" road conditions. However, the installation commander is the final authority for activating or deactivating road condition "black."

"Road condition change recommendations will usually come in through Security Forces patrols, who will call the command post to be patched into the 673d MSG commander, who will decide what condition to implement," Chansler said. "The decision is passed to Public Affairs to update the JBER information line, JBER website and social media. At the same time, the command post pushes out the notification via AtHoc."

The AtHoc Installation Warning System Alerts is a network-centric emergency mass-notification system capable of alerting base personnel within minutes of an emergency from a single, centralized, web-based system. 

The Public Affairs office notifies local news media and initiates changes to the JBER Information Line at 552-INFO (4636), JBER web page, Facebook, and Twitter with the latest reporting instructions. JBER personnel can expect to receive the information as early as possible, but decisions will normally be made by 5 a.m.

"Passing this information to the base populace is essential to help keep everyone safe," Chansler said. "Getting the word out via AtHoc, phone calls, emails and social media helps keep traffic to a minimum, which helps our first responders and civil engineering deal with weather."

According to the Air Force Emergency Management Newsletter, Anchorage is predicted to have a total snow fall of 75.5 inches this winter.

"The safety of our greatest asset, our people, is first and foremost in the minds of all our senior leaders," Howard said. "The goal is to ensure the safety of every member of JBER and their families while still conducting the mission we are charged with carrying out."