Guardian protects Tinker from hazardous dangers Published June 6, 2008 By Danielle Gregory Tinker Public Affairs TINKER AIR FORCE BASE -- Only 35 other Air Force Bases have acquired the technology that Tinker Air Force Base has. The Guardian Program at Tinker Air Force Base assists with anything involving chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear and weapons of mass destruction whether the circumstances be real world or just an exercise. "Air Force is the only DoD branch of the service that has a contract support person on base and that's my job. I manage the program and if there's anything wrong with the equipment or any training that needs to be done the organizations with the equipment come to me," said James Hoffman, Guardian Program Manager. Thirty five other Air Force Bases have adopted this program, Tinker was third to fully implement and execute successfully. During exercise events and real world incidents Mr. Hoffman's job is to do whatever the Incident Commander asks of him as it pertains to Guardian programs, software management, and situational awareness. "I also develop plume modeling, map downwind hazards, and identify evacuation zones at CBNRs by gathering information from the incident management team." Mr. Hoffman works closely with Security Forces who have a cache of equipment. Their equipment is used every day to monitor people and vehicles entering and leaving the base. He responds to their service and technical needs within minutes because he is on base every day and he also works with the Emergency Management staff and Special Operations Branch assisting them with development and response to HAZMAT incidents throughout the base on a daily basis. "James is very instrumental in responding to a lot of hazardous material incidents because he has a lot of capability that run parallel to CBRN operations and that sort of stuff so he brings of lot of expertise to the fight," said Benjamin Reese, Tinker Fire Department," said Mr. Reese. As for the last CBRN exercise that Tinker ran, Mr. Hoffman was provided with an opportunity to test Tinker's equipment and felt that it was a good learning experience. "Chief Ford was the Incident Commander on site and wanted a the plume placed and plotted on a system called Marplot, and after working through some glitches and receiving very rapid computer support Chief Ford was able to direct very precise risk based actions for evacuation and containment in the effected area," said Mr. Hoffman. Mr. Reese explained that Mr. Hoffman was instrumental in ensuring the computer software worked properly, find out why when it didn't, and support the Incident Commander by operating the software. All this information can be broadcast to the Emergency Operations Center, and Incident Control Center giving commanders real time information that can assist them with recovery planning and mission adjustments. "A lot of what James does is planning the different risk zones, and helping us develop the criteria for all those zones, entry control points, and plotting wind directions of all of those points," said Mr. Reese. The program provides the installation with an increased level of threat detection for CBRN and provides the commander with the confidence that their facility is safe. It also ensures we have the ability to detect and react responsibly to it. You can look at Guardian as an increased measure of hazardous materials response capability. "Since receiving the program equipment, the difference for Tinker has been a heightened awareness to the threat and development of training to use the program. Just the discussions and training exercises have helped us build the program from just a fire service program to an integrated response program," said Mr. Reese.