RESERVIST MAGAZINE ICS UPDATE Lt. Cmdr. Nathaniel Ross and Lt. Cmdr. Josh Daubenspeck stand with the X Games sign in Aspen, Colo. ICS Gets X-treme: Colorado-based reservists assist at Winter X Games in Aspen 2020 Story and photo by Lt. Cmdr. Nathaniel Ross & Lt. Cmdr. Josh Daubenspeck Coast Guard reservists from Pacific Area staff and District 11 recently aided the regional Incident Management Team in Aspen, Colo., as ESPN’s Winter X Games descended on the town for the 19th consecutive year. The authors, PACAREA member Lt. Cmdr. Nathaniel Ross of Basalt, Colo., and D11 reservist Lt. Cmdr. Josh Daubenspeck of Englewood, Colo., augmented the Pitkin County IMT as it stood up a Unified Command from Jan. 22-26. The X Games feature competitions of some of the world’s best winter action sports athletes and performances from a variety of top musical artists. Held on a sprawling venue at Aspen’s Buttermilk Mountain, the X Games is one of the largest planned spectator events in the Rocky Mountain region each year, and 2020 was no exception, with more than 110,000 attendees flooding into Aspen over the course of the event (almost 50,000 on Saturday). As a city of only about 7,200 permanent residents, the region relies heavily on a combined IMT that draws from a wide variety of local, state and federal law enforcement and public safety agencies in order to ensure everyone’s safety throughout the events. This year’s IMT included representatives from five local police departments, four sheriff’s offices and three fire departments, as well as the Colorado State Patrol, Colorado Department of Transportation, Colorado Information and Analysis Center, Colorado National Guard Civilian Support Team, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. In addition, representatives from ESPN’s X Games production team were present in the Incident Command Post to ensure clear communications and coordinated planning across all entities supporting the event. Both authors served as part of the Pitkin County IMT in the roles of Liaison Officer (Ross) and Resource Unit Leader/Documentation Unit Leader (Daubenspeck). 32 RESERVIST � Issue 2 • 2020 Participation required them to leverage their Incident Command System experience and train alongside a unique mix of experienced emergency management professionals in a different environment than normal maritime-focused Coast Guard operations. With the national media exposure, the pressure to ensure a safe and enjoyable event for all competitors, artists, attendees, and members of the general public was enormous, but the diverse team of emergency management professionals were up to the task. In total, members of the IMT logged more than 4,000 man hours in support of the Winter X Games. Reporters who filmed a news segment about the interagency coordination in support of the X Games got a tour behind the scene, and they highlighted the importance of extensive prior planning and interoperability amongst the many organizations supporting the IMT. The event was a major success, proving the diverse nature of operations that ICS can support. It broadened the ICS participants’ knowledge base and helped them forge lasting professional relationships with other supporting federal, state and local agencies. Michael Willis, the Director of the Colorado Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Management in Denver, traveled to Aspen to tour the ICP. He said he was impressed with how smoothly the wide variety of agencies supporting the X Games integrated under the ICS construct, and he praised the IMT for setting an example for other major events throughout the state. “A lot of your peers would like to hear how you do this, and how you do it routinely,” said Willis. “There’s a lot here that is going right.” �
