Command Post: Nerve center of the base

  • Published
  • By 2nd Lt. Austin M. Duran
  • 47th Flying Training Wing Public Affairs
LAUGHLIN AIR FORCE BASE, Texas --  It is the nerve center, the eyes, ears and the voice of the wing commander. The men and women working there maintain emergency readiness and constantly monitor Team XL's day-to-day operations. These people support Laughlin's mission by mitigating emergencies' effect on the base, from the heart of the command post.

Tech. Sgt. Eric High, 47th Flying Training Wing command post NCO in charge, delivers constant information to the commander.

"In any emergency, the CP is the focal point," said High. "We deliver information directly to the wing commander in real time. If an emergency is on-going, whether it is an arrest, a storm or an attack, we give real-time reports to the commander and deliver the commander's notices to the base."

Senior Airman Michelle Carnahan, 47th FTW CP emergency actions controller, helps relay computer-based and other notifications to other organizations on base. The most common notifications are the computer notifications for weather announcements. Although this does not seem exciting, CP's actions are often a precursor to major events.

"Weather and heat index updates are not exactly riveting," said Carnahan. "But updating the force protection level of the base two days prior to the Osama Bin Laden raid? That was exciting to know I prepared the base for possible retaliation. I take a lot of pride in being involved, even in a small way, in our nation's victories."

Staff Sgt. Justin Theis, 47th FTW emergency actions controller, also works with tracking airplane emergencies and cross country sorties.

"If there is an airplane emergency, then we track it and make sure the commander is in the loop," said Theis. "We also 'flight follow' cross country aircraft, in case they have an emergency off station. This helps us coordinate what the air crew needs to remedy whatever their situation may be."

When emergencies happen, they relay everything to the needed sources to allow the mission to carry on.

"We stand watch 24 hours a day," said High. "Whether we need to tell you that the weather is extreme today, increase security on base, or monitor aircraft for increased safety, command post is always ready to bolster Laughlin's mission."