Photo By Staff Sgt. Shawn Morris | James B. Balocki, command executive officer and director Services and Installations,...... read more read more
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JOINT BASE MCGUIRE-DIX-LAKEHURST, N.J. – One of the Army Reserve’s senior leaders offered his views on the organization’s mission to provide Defense Support of Civil Authorities during a town hall meeting May 5 at the Timmermann Center here.
James B. Balocki, command executive officer and director Services and Installations, Office of the Chief of Army Reserve, spoke with dozens of Army Reserve Soldiers and civilians, as well as other members of the Joint Base community, during the hourlong meeting.
“Superstorm Sandy was a harbinger of the future,” Balocki said. “The 2012 NDAA added Defense Support of Civil Authorities as a mission set for the Army Reserve … so you’re going to see more of that structure going forward.”
Balocki referred to the 2012 National Defense Authorization Act, which included a provision that allowed the Army Reserve to provide disaster relief and emergency management in support of civil authorities.
In October 2012, this provision was put to the test when three Army Reserve quartermaster detachments were activated in the wake of Superstorm/Hurricane Sandy to become the first-ever Army Reserve units to be deployed in response to a domestic natural disaster under the 2012 NDAA.
Other Army Reserve responses to the 1,000-mile-wide storm that tore its way across the eastern seaboard that fall included hosting Federal Emergency Management Agency personnel at Fort Devens in Massachusetts, establishing a refueling point for emergency vehicles at Fort Wadsworth in New York City, providing the quartermaster units with water pumps from the 99th Regional Support Command headquartered here and opening the shuttered Fort Tilden Army Reserve Center to aid storm and fire victims in Breezy Point, New York.
“The work that you have done in raising the importance of the Army Reserve to the nation has not gone unrecognized,” said Balocki.
To further the Army Reserve’s role in future DSCA responses, the 99th RSC and U.S. Army Reserve Command are partnering with FEMA and U.S. Army North to conduct a unique staff exercise here in June that will test the 99th RSC’s ability to manage operational requirements and stand up an operations center during a crisis or other significant event.
This continued role in DSCA presents a significant opportunity for the Army Reserve to meet the needs of local communities and help people recover and rebuild their lives following a disaster.
“You are on the front lines in defense of our nation, and it means something very important to our citizens,” Balocki said.
| Date Taken: | 05.05.2015 |
| Date Posted: | 05.05.2015 14:14 |
| Story ID: | 162285 |
| Location: | JOINT BASE MCGUIRE-DIX-LAKEHURST, NJ, US |
| Web Views: | 206 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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