Chief Master Sgt. Steve Bell, the Joint Personnel Recovery Center search and rescue controller, monitors the path of Hurricane Gustav. The JPRC is specialty team of America's Air Operations Center that coordinates large-scale search and rescue operations during contigencies such as hurricanes or other natural or man-made disasters. (U.S. Air Force photo)
TYNDALL AIR FORCE BASE, Fla (AFPN) -- Officials with the 601st Air and Space Operations Center have activated the Joint Personnel Recovery Center in preparation for landfall of Hurricane Gustav.
Located here, JPRC personnel focus specifically on large-scale search and rescue, or SAR, operations in the event of a hurricane or natural disaster. When a disaster occurs, JPRC officials activate and coordinate the SAR actions of all rescue aircraft in the disaster area to improve the efficiency of rescue operations and reduce the potential for mishaps.
As part of AFNORTH's preparation for Hurricane Gustav, JPRC specialists identified Air Force active duty aircraft in the U.S. available to support a SAR tasking. JPRC officials also identify assets from all branches of the service, to include the U.S. Coast Guard, in order to better coordinate SAR activities.
The JPRC is one of several resources that America's Air Operations Center employs in its Defense Support of Civil Authorities role.
"The JPRC is an AOC specialty team that stands up as the need arises," said Chief Master Sgt. Steve Bell, JPRC SAR coordinator. "We have the capability to conduct large-scale SAR operations during contingencies, such as hurricanes or other natural or man-made disasters, making the JPRC a valuable asset to the DSCA mission."