Enlisted military leaders plan for hurricane season Published May 5, 2006 By 1st Lt. Shantece Wade AFNORTH Public Affairs TYNDALL AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. (AFPN) -- Nearly 30 senior enlisted leaders from the uniformed services joined forces here to plan and prepare for the upcoming hurricane season. Air Forces Northern, the air component of U.S. Northern Command, hosted a Senior Enlisted Leadership Conference here May 3 to focus on disaster response and military operations in the wake of a natural disaster. The senior noncommissioned officers worked together during the two-day workshop to develop a greater understanding of how the Department of Defense would best support state governors and their National Guard units during natural disasters. "The primary reason we held the conference was to bring together the senior enlisted leaders who would most likely be involved with any type of hurricane response," said Chief Master Sgt. Allen Usry, Air Forces Northern command chief. "Developing these joint relationships will allow us to function more efficiently and help us better prepare our troops and support our citizens." One of the major issues addressed during the conference was how to coordinate a federal response with state and local officials, including the Army and Air National Guard units assigned to them. "Duplication of command and control functions among the services initially hampered the relief effort during Hurricane Katrina," said Army Command Sgt. Maj. John Leonard, National Guard Bureau senior enlisted advisor. "We're trying to prevent that from happening again by coordinating here to improve future disaster relief processes. "That's the ultimate goal: to learn from our mistakes," said Sergeant Major Leonard. During the conference, representatives described their agency and its role in providing humanitarian relief operations. Each enlisted leader also highlighted the capabilities of his or her component, the command authorities and interagency coordination. "As senior enlisted leaders, we're light years ahead of where we were last year around hurricane season, because we're here now talking about the lessons learned and everyone's different capabilities," said Chief Usry. "This creates a very good environment for us to go into the season with." Commands and agencies represented included the U.S. Northern Command, Air Forces Northern, Army North, Marine Forces North, U.S. Coast Guard Atlantic, Joint Forces Command, Joint Task Force Civil Support, Federal Aviation Administration, National Guard Bureau and Federal Emergency Management Agency.