Air Force executes new plan for disasters Published April 13, 2007 Courtesy 1st SOCES HURLBURT FIELD, Fla. -- In a call for compatible emergency response procedures between local, state and federal agencies, the Air Force Disaster Response Force system is being reorganized. The attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, and the events surrounding Hurricanes Ivan, Katrina and Rita revealed many areas of concern and system failures including lack of coordination, incompatible communications and bureaucratic infighting between the various agencies. Many of these agencies employed different tactics, command structures and communications during emergency response. To ensure these problems do not arise during Air Force emergency response action, Secretary of the Air Force Michael Wynne issued a memorandum introducing the Air Force Incident Management System. In January, members of Air Force Special Operations Command Civil Engineer, Hurlburt's Exercise Evaluation Team and the 1st Special Operations Wing Civil Engineer Squadron Readiness Flight, attended the first of two AFIMS Implementation Symposiums led by the Air Force Civil Engineer Support Agency. These symposiums and the subsequent release of Air Force Instruction 10-2501, Emergency Management Planning and Operations, have empowered Hurlburt Field members with the knowledge and guidance necessary to successfully implement the largest reorganization of the wing's disaster response force. This creation and implementation of AFIMS was in direct response to Homeland Security Presidential Directive 5, which called for the establishment of a single, comprehensive national system for managing domestic incidents, now named National Incident Management Sys-tem. The creation coordinates with the secretary of defense memorandum directing the services to adopt NIMS. The objective of the memorandum was to unify emergency management practices at Air Force levels and to create a comprehensive approach to incident management. Full implementation of AFIMS will require a two-phased approach that will be coordinated by the 1st SOCES Readiness Flight. Throughout the transition, organizational response structure and Air Force-specific terminology will change to become federally compliant. For more information on AFIMS, call 1st SOCES at 884-7869 or the 1st SOW Inspector General at 884-5533.