MAFB’s new emergency notification system saves precious time

  • Published
  • 5th Bomb Wing command post
MINOT AIR FORCE BASE, N.D. --  Since October 2008, many personnel on base have seen pop-up messages come across their screen with weather advisories, early dismissal messages, road condition reports and declared force protection condition statuses. Also many people have received emails at their work stations and personal home email accounts. These messages were generated from the 5th Bomb Wing command post by a system called the Emergency Management Notification System and has greatly enhanced the on-duty command post controllers' reaction time for notifying numerous personnel on certain crisis's or situations that develop. 

"The 5th BW command post is just one of the 24-hour nerve centers for Minot AFB that stays on alert for the 5th BW and 91st Missile Wing mission," said Master Sgt. Howard Hardison, 5th BW command post superintendent. "We keep the command staff and the base populace continually updated with emergency situations such as higher headquarters directives, threats, FPCONS, road condition reports, weather notifications and early work dismissals for severe weather just to name a few." 

"Two controllers are always on-duty and are trained to follow checklist for any given situation. Some situations direct them to immediately recall the entire 5th BW staff," added Sergeant Hardison. "This requires at least 10 phone calls apiece for each controller. In addition to making these phone calls the crisis at hand is ongoing and the controllers have to stay abreast on what is going on to immediately brief the Wing Staff and send out any reports to Air Combat Command or higher echelons in the command chain." 

However, with the new EMNS, this timely process has been drastically reduced. 

EMNS is a web based system that was pushed down from ACC through the server and has greatly enhanced the notification process for the controllers. Controllers can target up to six selected systems to quickly notify personnel. The selected systems can be a desktop pop-up banner, work email and home emails. The system can also be used to send an electronic message to work phones, cell phones and home phones. At least 6,670 people can be notified within minutes and the system can generate 500 phone calls per minute. 

Though Sergent Hardison and Master Sgt. Lance Powell, command post training noncommissioned officer, are ultimately responsible as the system aministrators, they can grant operator level access to selected units on base for their own internal notifications and training scenarios. The fire department, central security control, missile security control and the law enforcement desk are just some of the few units that can use this system. With access granted to selected operators for their own flights they can use this system to notify their own personnel with internal anti-terrorism exercises or fire department responses. 

The EMNS also helps command post controllers support the 91st MW mission by quickly notifying their wing staff and personnel out in the launch facilities, keeping them abreast to what is happening on the base. 

"It's a great system that was created by a career command post controller for command post personnel and a valuable piece of technology," said Sergeant Hardison. "With today's systems that allows us to reach out further notifying people it helps all of us here at the command post support the wing mission better and faster. "