Students and their instructors at the conclusion of the inaugural 2017 Contingency Preparedness College. Left to right, back row: Paul Martin, Lt. Chris Shih, Lt.j.g. Steven Dross, Lt. Megan Mervar, Lt.j.g. Courtney Hanson, Lt. Jiah Barnett, Mr. Jerry Bynum. Front row from left: Cmdr. Suzanne Rainwater, Lt. Cmdr. Ian Brosnan, Nic Samonte, Mr. Ben Perry-Thistle. Sector San Francisco’s annual Contingency Preparedness College enriches incident response & management qualifications Story and photo by Lt. Cmdr. Ian Brosnan Meeting the mission requirements for incident response and management is one of the four priorities for the Reserve component. However, these are not stand-alone functions. They are founded in preparedness and contingency planning, which covers developing plans, organizing and equipping people, training personnel, conducting exercises, and incorporating learning from past experiences. The incident response and management qualifications that reservists pursue are enriched by exposure to preparedness and contingency planning. Consider, for example, how the effectiveness of reservists activated to respond to a catastrophic oil spill may be improved if they are familiar with the Area Contingency Plan and its contents, have helped to exercise it, and have met the agency partners and stakeholders participating with them in the response. Fortunately, the Coast Guard provides a straightforward structure for reservists to delve into preparedness through the Contingency Preparedness (CP) competency and its associated personnel qualification standard. The CP PQS is nearly 70 percent knowledge-based, which means that a training investment equivalent to a single drill weekend can provide a significant return in terms of advancing qualifications. Recognizing this, the port security specialists at Sector San Francisco initiated an annual Contingency Preparedness College with a curriculum that covered all of the knowledge-based tasks. The college was open to both active duty and reservists in the San Francisco Bay area. Students received detailed instruction on each task, and they demonstrated mastery of the subject in daily exams. Context and depth came from interaction with the instructors, who brought decades of preparedness experience. 12 RESERVIST � Issue 2 • 2020 Completing the practical PQS tasks, which make up approximately half of the remaining tasks, required participation in exercise planning and execution, ready-for-operations inspections, program administration tasks, and community stakeholder meetings. Some of these activities can be challenging for reservists to complete. However, they typically occur on a regular battle rhythm and are on the calendar months or years in advance. As with many qualifications, a little flexibility, creativity and proactivity enables reserve member participation. The remaining PQS tasks are online, self-paced ICS courses and, for reservists, the Homeland Security Exercise and Evaluation (HSEEP) Course, which can be delivered in-person or via webinar. For officers, once the CP PQS is completed and the competency recorded, only three online ICS classes separate them from qualifying for the Contingency Planning Officer Specialty Code (OAR-18). Even if the CP competency and officer specialty code are not attained, value accrues simply by completing the required classes and knowledge-based tasks, which put incident response and management activities in their historical, national, and local context. The knowledge and experience gained are also relevant for officers considering assignments to the planning elements of DoD’s Combatant Commands. Additionally, several of the required online ICS classes can be credited for retirement points (check the latest EBDL list for eligibility). Pursuing the Contingency Preparedness competency is a worthy effort, and, as demonstrated by the port security specialists at Sector San Francisco, a dedicated college can be an effective means of quickly advancing reserve and active duty members towards qualification. � For more details on Sector San Francisco’s Contingency Planning College, please contact Paul Martin at [email protected].
