The Kaua‘i Civil Air Patrol Squadron based at the Lihu‘e Airport with its three CAP aircraft is fully involved with the week-long annual State Civil Defense Makani Pahili 2012 Disaster Exercise. CAP aircraft and aircrews are flying over Kaua‘i, O‘ahu,
The Kaua‘i Civil Air Patrol Squadron based at the Lihu‘e Airport with its three CAP aircraft is fully involved with the week-long annual State Civil Defense Makani Pahili 2012 Disaster Exercise.
CAP aircraft and aircrews are flying over Kaua‘i, O‘ahu, Maui and Moloka‘i taking video of each island’s shorelines, highways and government structures using Geospatial Information Interoperability Exploitation equipment, states a CAP release.
The GIIEP system is designed to provide real-time images to incident commanders during emergency situations.
During the exercise, live video data is transmitted to the state and county Emergency Operating Centers where it is displayed on screens for viewing.
Communication between the EOCs and the aircraft is through GIIEP texting or the CAP statewide radio system to give directions of what the Civil Defense officials want to view for damage assessment.
The data is also available to incident commanders anywhere there is an Internet connection.
CAP aircraft are being equipped with GIIEP nationwide, and Hawai‘i CAP units have recently started training on the new technology.
The GIIEP system provides a means to collect, distribute and share vital information among disaster response agencies.
GIIEP was developed by the U.S. Army Space and Missile Defense Command, National Guard Bureau, and the U.S. Air Force to streamline the national processes and procedures for sharing of information during critical incidents and contingencies.
The Civil Air Patrol is an auxiliary of the U.S. Air Force.
Makani Pahili, which is Hawaiian for “strong winds,” is the annual Hawai‘i State Civil Defense emergency exercise, with an emphasis on hurricane strikes, with a number of government and private agencies participating to test and evaluate preparations for operations before, during and following a hurricane.
The main thrust of the exercise took place Saturday.
