ROVERs aid in search and rescue

  • Published
  • By Capt. Ken Hall
  • Joint Task Force-Katrina
NEW ORLEANS (AFPN) --  In the wake of Hurricane Katrina, local recovery authorities needed helping seeing what was happening on the ground.

That is when Airmen brought in ROVER, the Air Force’s cutting edge combat technology to the table, to support combined rescue operations.

The Remote Operations Video Enhanced Receiver system is a computer configuration with a specialized radio and antenna system that allows officials on the ground to have a better ability to see what is happening at any moment throughout the area.

"This gear exponentially boosts the amount of work that can be done by Soldiers on the ground," said Lt. Col. Greg Harbin who headed up the ROVER teams of active-duty joint tactical air controllers, retired combat controllers and civilian technicians.

Using this latest combat technology, Airmen were able to provide full motion streaming video imagery in real time to ground troops and local authorities, just as they do in today’s combat operations in Iraq.

The Air Force dedicated 10 ROVERs to Katrina operations. The imagery provided by these systems helped military and civilian leaders conduct house-to-house search-and-rescue missions.

As an aerial capability in New Orleans relief operations, Colonel Harbin said ROVER received a variety of video downlinks from Navy P-3 Orions, Air Force A-10 Thunderbolt IIs and Air National Guard C-130 Hercules. Combined, they provided 24-hour high-resolution, real-time streaming video to those who needed it most -- responders.

"My team provided a very specialized military and civilian asset to the overall effort," Colonel Harbin said.

Additionally, ROVERs pull video images from unmanned aerial vehicles. Although the Federal Aviation Administration currently bans UAV flights in and around New Orleans, the colonel's team developed a "work-around” solution.

They mounted a UAV camera on a pedestal atop the 30th-floor roof of a hotel in downtown New Orleans -- the highest vantage point in the area. From this position, the ROVER was able to provide authorities a constant overview of the area for miles around.

"In essence, it provided (additional) eyes-on capability to the 82nd (Airborne Division," said Staff Sgt. Jason Cry, a JTAC deployed here. Despite the thousands of people conducting rescue operations, they could not be everywhere and see everything. The ROVER helped fill the void.

To fill this unique and important support operation, three specialized Air Force control teams from the 9th Air Force at Shaw Air Force Base, S.C., and a tactical UAV team deployed to support the search-and-rescue operations.

Colonel Harbin said the ROVER is the perfect system for the work being done in Louisiana.

"I can't imagine a more fitting use of technology to aid our fellow Americans in New Orleans." (9th Air Force Public Affairs contributed to this story.)