Emergency management vital to safety, readiness

  • Published
  • By Senior Daniella Pena-Pavao
  • 919th Special Operations Wing
DUKE FIELD, Fla. --  Whether preparing for a natural disaster or man-made chaos, the Emergency Management flight of the 919th Special Operations Civil Engineer Squadron works behind the scenes to keep Citizen Air Commandos safe.

Master Sgt. Jessica Mango leads the way for the EM team. She acts as a liaison between Duke Field and Eglin Air Force Base distributing critical information between the installations during emergencies.

“Without the EM shop, Duke would be truly left behind until situations were at a critical stage,” said Col. Scott Stewart, 919th Special Operations Mission Support Group commander. “It would be catastrophic for the personnel here at Duke. But because of Master Sgt. Mango, lives are protected and honored daily, as she stands likes a knight at the gates of a castle.”

In addition to keeping all 1,800 personnel on the installation safe during emergencies, Mango and her team of EM representatives provide Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear defense and Unit Control Center training to both Citizen Airmen and active duty members of the 492nd Special Operations Wing. This Total Force Integration effort keeps members up to date with their readiness requirements so they can deploy “Any Time…Any Place.”

“CBRNE is one of the requirements a member cannot deploy without,” said Mango. “Because some of our members deploy to high threat areas, training them on those hazards is crucial to mission readiness.”

EM also develops plans and programs to keep Airmen mission ready and minimize casualties. In the case of an emergency, it is vital to know what each member in EM is capable of providing to the team.

“One of the most important parts of my job is knowing who does what, and who knows what,” said Mango. “Building those relationships and being able to network to make sure Duke Field is ready for anything is hands down my favorite part of this job.”