TINKER AIR FORCE BASE, Okla. -- It may have seemed a bit odd to watch without context. Just minutes after a devastating “virtual” tornado hit Tinker Air Force Base, a state senator planned security forces patrols through family housing. Simultaneously, an executive at a local community college began diverting fuel trucks while a former solicitor of the Supreme Court of England and Wales considered lodging options for first responders.
This was a first-of-its kind event for the base and its civic leaders. Tinker has long participated in the Air Force Honorary Commander Program – a partnership that pairs selected community leaders with commanders on the installation. Normally, the civic leaders come on the base for tours, briefings and hands-on experiences.
As the world has shifted to COVID-safe video meetings, though, Tinker’s outreach program had to find new ways to engage. Online briefings, while informative, proved a poor substitute for the type of face-to-face engagements the civic leaders currently in the program had signed up for.
“Listening to presentations with no interaction can sometimes be a little challenging,” said Honorary Commander Warren Johnson, owner of Al Pharma Inc. “There is nothing better than engaging participants by making them responsible for something.”
During the 90-minute exercise, each honorary commander was assigned to a functional area and assisted by a Tinker subject matter expert who could answer questions about roles and resources.
The participants moved quickly through a complex tornado response scenario. They ran virtual break-out rooms with their on-base counterparts to coordinate actions and briefed 72nd Air Base Wing Vice Commander Col. Michael Tiemann as they worked. For his part, Tiemann said he was impressed at how quickly the civic leaders adapted to the pace of the exercise.
Given their diverse backgrounds, it comes as no surprise that the civic leaders were able to jump right in. Honorary Commander Joy Hammons, for example, is a former worldwide infrastructure manager for Kerr McGee Corporation who currently serves as chief executive officer of Foreward – a strategy consulting firm. The exercise format itself was new for her.
“I have been involved in crisis management (with the oil and gas industry) and did not know what to expect in such a short period,” she said. “I learned a lot!”
At the conclusion of the exercise, other civic leaders echoed that sentiment. Jonna Kirschner, senior vice president of Economic Development for Chickasaw Nation Industries, says her world has become a series of Zoom, WebEx, Teams and Google calls over the past year.
“I can attest without hesitation that this was the most rewarding one ever,” she said. “(Tinker) is in very capable hands on all fronts.”