2. Air Operations Branch Director Course
U.S. AIR FORCE
AUXILIARY
Air Operations Branch Director Course
Inter-agency Operations

3. Expect to Work with Other Agencies

4. Who’s in charge?
Sometimes CAP is lead agency, reporting directly to AFRCC
ELT Search
Interstate missing aircraft
Intrastate missing aircraft (delegated to CAP from HSEM)
Other times, CAP assists
In Minnesota, by law, each sheriff is responsible for search and rescue in his/her county; The sheriff is often the IC.

5. Who’s in charge?
Command and control of CAP personnel and resources always remains within CAP
CAPF 104 Clearance
CAP Air Branch tracks flight

6. Multiple Wings
Usually, RCC will generally appoint one IC as overall IC for all CAP resources.
That IC is then the point of contact for RCC
Other wings can provide resources and personnel to assist

7. Where does CAP fit in a larger incident organization?
More than one possibility
Entire CAP organization placed in one part of incident organization
CAP personnel spread throughout incident organization
In case of missing aircraft search we would likely be in lead role with other agencies supporting

8. CAP organization in one functional area
Perhaps CAP is providing just one kind of resource (like aircraft)
CAP officer in charge (a qualified agency liaison officer) may be incident Air Branch or CAP Air Branch Director
Advantage: easy to understand lines of command
CAP
CAP

9. CAP organization in many roles
CAP ALO (agency liaison officer) acts as agency representative on IC command staff
ALO maintains ability to exercise command and control with CAP members throughout organization
CAP must still control its own dispatch and flight release procedures, so it must have personnel assigned in operations (perhaps as deputies or branch directors)
CAP
CAP
CAP
CAP
CAP
CAP

10. Interagency Specific Procedures
MNICS
Coast Guard Auxiliary

11. Minnesota Incident Command System (MNICS) “All Risk” Aviation Operations Plan

12. Participants
Minnesota Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Management- HSEM
MN Dept. of Public Safety- State Patrol
Minnesota Wing, Civil Air Patrol – US Air Force Auxiliary
MN Dept. of Natural Resources – Enforcement- DNR
MN Army National Guard
Air Medical Council- EMS
MN Dept. of Natural Resources-Forestry- DNR
US Forest Service-Fire- USFS
US Fish and Wildlife Service- USFWS
Bureau of Indian Affairs- BIA
Media
County Sheriffs

13. Past “All Risk” Events Involving Aircraft from Multiple Agencies
1997 Floods
St. Peter Tornado
Andover Fire
Katie Poerer Search
1999 4th of July Blow-down Storm

14. Concept All air-operations missions are potentially multi-agency
Even an ELT search!
(Perhaps there is an actual crash, and the news media is already there)
Need protocol for inter-agency communications to keep air operations safe

15. Status - 2009 New Draft SAR Annex added to All Risk Plan
Recognizes need for on-the-ground coordination of SAR air operations
Differentiates between small search areas (<10 miles across) and larger ones
Use of air-to-air communication for coordination and separation ineffective for large area operations
Recommends coordination with MIAFC Aviation Desk for operations north of Twin Cities

16. Initial Response Air-to-air tactical frequency 122.75 MHz — “All Risk”
MHz — Wild-land fire
Announce direction of entry into incident when 10 miles out
Other aircraft at scene will inform incoming aircraft of their presence, position, mission, and whether or not an Air Tactical Group Supervisor is functioning yet

17. Initial Response (cont.)
Air to air briefings on if tactical frequency is too busy

18. Air Tactical Group Supervisor
Airborne
Coordinates All Airborne Aircraft
Responsible to manage separation and safety
First aircraft onto the scene will normally assume the role until formally handing off responsibility or leaving the scene

19. AIR TACTICAL GROUP SUPERVISOR
Extended responses:
AIR TACTICAL GROUP SUPERVISOR
Air Tactical Group Supervisor has two assisting coordinators
AIR TANKER / FIXED
WING COORDINATOR
HELICOPTER COORDINATOR

20. Air-Tanker/Fixed-Wing Coordinator
Typically airborne position on large incidents
Coordinates airborne fixed-wing aircraft
Reports to Air Tactical Group Supervisor

21. Helicopter Coordinator
Can be in the air or on the ground
Coordinates all airborne helicopters (tactical or logistical missions)
Reports to Air Tactical Group Supervisor

23. Complex Missions
Communications frequency plans exist to support more complex missions
These plans allow simultaneous separate incidents (or geographic divisions) to communicate without conflicting
The plans change with time
Mission staff should coordinate with the Minnesota Interagency Fire Center to determine the current frequency plans
Plans have been identified by color. (Example on next two slides)
Air Tactical Group Supervisor and/or Air Support Group Supervisor will decide when and if to use the communications plans.

24. Purple Plan 118.775 MHz (aircraft band) Air to air tactical
MHz (CAP FM Ch 34)
Air to air briefings if is too busy

25. Gold Plan 119.625 MHz (aircraft band) Air to air tactical
MHz (CAP FM Ch 35)
Air to air briefings if is too busy

26. Other Frequencies for Joint Operations
MHz (aircraft band)
CTAF for air strips without other frequencies designated
MHz (aircraft band)
Air to air and air to ground designated “natural resources” frequency
and
Air to air Canadian border area, two miles either side of border
MHz (aircraft band)
Air to ground – air tanker base operations within 10 miles of base

27. DNR Flight Following Channels Programmed into MN Wing FM Radios
MIFC Air Net Point to Point
MIFC Air Net East Repeater (Eveleth)
MIFC Air Net West Repeater (Northome)
MIFC Air Net South Repeater (Quadna)
Superior Dispatch

28. US Coast Guard Auxiliary
Possible Joint Operations with CAP
Search and Rescue
Disaster Relief (river spills, etc.)
Homeland Security (border operations, etc.)

29. CG Auxiliary Communications
MN Wing CAP Aircraft FM radios are programmed for Marine band use
Altitude Restriction: ft AGL
Frequencies
Initial Contact on Marine Channel 16 (CAP FM Ch 29)
Working Channel is Marine Channel 83 (CAP FM Ch 31)

30. CG Auxiliary Communications
Making Contact
If possible, make contact with a fixed station first
“Coast Guard Auxiliary Station Prescott, this is CAPFlight 2143”
Then contact “facilities” [boats] on patrol
“US Coast Guard Auxiliary 1 6 9, this is CAPFlight 2143”

31. Describing Navigation Information
CG Auxiliary personnel usually describe locations in terms of “river miles”
They should be able to convert to Lat & Long for us
If not, ask CAP mission base or CG Aux. station to convert
River charts showing both river miles and lat/long are available to download from US Army Corps of Engineers

32. CG Auxiliary Vocab 101 Bow-rider – runabout with seats in an open bow
Cigarette boat – narrow fast powerboat
Coxswain – facility [boat] crew commander
Cruiser – luxury boat with interior cabin
Deck boat – boat with single deck and rails
Facility – boat [esp. a Coast Guard or CGA boat]
Flotilla – Coast Guard local organizational unit
PFD – personal floatation device
Runabout – powerboat smaller than 25 ft with outboard engine

33. Questions?