Ohio's Own - Ohio Military Reserve - State of Ohio

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Story & Photos by Capt Jim NowakWhen moving into a new place, it always feels good to be welcomed. So when the OhioMilitary Reserve Headquarters arrived at its new home at Haubuch Armory in Columbus, they werepleasantly surprised when Ohio’s Adjutant General, Maj Gen Deborah A. Ashenhurst, stopped by togreet them.“I knew you were moving today, and I had a couple of events going on,” said Ashenhurst, “So Itook this opportunity to swing through here and see how this move was going.”The move was planned specifically with an eye on the future for OHMR, Ashenhurst explained. “We’retrying to get you settled in a place where you can be long term, where you can have a little more roomto spread out and not so much competition for space.” While the armory is currently being shared withthe Ohio National Guard’s 1-134th Field Artillery Regiment and 285th Medical Company, those unitsare expecting to be relocated, giving the armory to OHMR.Having just taken over the Adjutant General post, Ashenhurst is still becoming familiar with OHMR, itstransformation and its projected capabilities. She drew parallels between OHMR’s mission and herown participation in Hurricane Katrina relief efforts. She cited first-hand experiences with points ofdistribution, interfacing with civilian support groups who were actively providing relief to disastervictims. These duties directly relate to OHMR’s training for civil support and sustainment.Ashenhurst strongly emphasized the critical nature of training for units. “Although you have to haveyourself ready, most important in training to me is knowing who your counterparts are - who you’reCont’d on Page 7
They Callll ThemGELOCapt Chuck Glass 1 st Civil Support &Sustainment Brigade OHMR listens to abriefing by Ohio National Guard Officersduring Liaison Officer Training at JointForce Headquarters Bieghtler Armory inColumbus in January.Liaison Officer TrainingPrepares OHMR forDisaster ResponseStory & photos Capt Jim NowakOHMR Public Affairs OfficerThe Ohio Military Reserve continuespreparation for its new mission, which meansmore training along side of the Ohio NationalGuard. For 2 days in late January 2011, elevenOHMR officers joined approximately 80 OhioArmy and Air National Guard Officers & NCOs atBieghtler Armory in Columbus, OH to learn therole of Liaison Officers, (LNOs). As every OHMRsoldier trained in the Incident Command System(ICS) knows, a response to any emergency ordisaster starts locally. As resources becomeoverwhelmed or deemed insufficient, the IncidentCommander can request regional support andmove up through county, state and even federallevels if each lower level is exceeded. It is whenState resources are brought into play a GELO(Guard Emergency Liaison Officer,pronounced JEE-loe) is among the firstdeployed. Ohio is divided into eight EMA LiaisonOfficer Districts each assigned to a GELO. Whendifferent organizations are brought togetherduring an emergency, confusion andmisunderstandings can delay effective responseand cost precious response time. LNOs representtheir respective military unit’s abilities as theywork with civilian agencies during domesticemergencies. In a deployment, the necessaryLNOs would coordinate as ordered with theappropriate GELO. It is training for the “TheHome Game,” – emergency response todomestic threats & disasters, according toLieutenant Colonel Neal O’Brien, Deputy Chiefof Staff for Plans & Operations in the OhioNational Guard. An LNO will not just watch duringan incident. “The LNO that they’re getting is ateam mate,” says O’brien. In the stress of anemergency response, an Incident Commanderneeds to understand who can do what. “A (unit)commander doesn’t have time to explain that.What the commander does is provide a
Page 1 and 2: OHIO’s OWNThe Offiiciial Journal
Page 3: OHIO’s OWN Spring 2011Best of Bot
Page 7 and 8: OHIO’s OWN Spring 2011Maj Gen Ash
Page 9 and 10: OHIO’s OWN Spring 2011“Buckeye

Ohio's Own - Ohio Military Reserve - State of Ohio

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