Response Team
As urban reconnaissance professionals; it is our mission to supplement public service personnel and volunteer citizens within the search and rescue spectrum. Whether it be providing innovative and relevant solutions addressing the challenges of the next generation of warfare. Or providing situational awareness services along with data collection for Urban Search & Rescue (US&R) operations. American Sentinel aims to cover the full spectrum of mission support; through specialized engineering, and comprehensive training solutions in support of industry and government initiatives.
Disaster response entities must prioritize coordination during complex deployments in highly stressful situations. To supplement coordination we’ve developed a concept called the American Sentinel Response Team (ASRT). A mobile command unit specializing in Silvus Communications radios with spectrum dominance, Air Reconnaissance, Drone First Responder on-boarding & instruction, Security Surveillance, along with Search & Rescue recovery. This concept is to ensure safety and additionally to prevent redundancy between entities operating concurrently. Communications plans are drafted in the PACE format (Primary, Alternate, Contingency, and Emergency planning). PACE plans are implemented for situational awareness and streamlining operational plans allowing for four potential options in order to communicate information in regards to incident response. While a communication section physically attached to the Incident Command is typically responsible for the facilitation of this information to the relevant recipients.
The modernization of our conceptual foundation also includes updating our approach to all types of Search & Rescue operations. Existing US&R and joint doctrine provide useful definitions but must be adjusted to account for changes in the operating environment and connect to the ideas expressed in our newest concepts moving forward.
Objectives of the Independent Research & Development
Research is at the tip of the spear for American Sentinel; championing innovation is a force multiplier in both the battlespace and here on the homefront. The ASRT is a part of CSAR, US&R, and Drone First-Responder communities that continuously “push the envelope” with UAS, Communications, and search & rescue response. ASRT is also attached to a collective group of operators that communicate via online; talking concepts of innovation on directional finding, software defined radio (SDR), penetration testing, thermal imaging, operations in GPS denied environments, counter-UAS (c-UAS) tools.
Challenges
With all response teams ICS issues requiring further analysis consists of: continuing to modernize concepts with the ASRT and service must develop concepts for resilient logistics webs in a contested environment with multiple options for support, to include distribution networks, and multi-domain delivery methods. These shortfalls are currently addressed via ad hoc relationships and networks, but such informal solutions result in episodic, inconsistent engagement and actions. Therefore, our command arrangements require examination to ensure that our Stand-in Forces remain in a readiness posture that does not require changes in command and control or structure to rapidly transition from competition to conflict. We can streamline and simplify much of the coordination burden at the headquarters level if we re-organize and re-focus some of our structure.
As disasters change the physical terrain within the Area of Operations it’s vital to have information to be presented to responders. American Sentinel via UAS operations intends to bring an updated situational awareness mapping service to better understand threats, hazards, ongoing conditions, etc. All American Sentinel deployments will get a six layer treatment in hazard assessment: physical terrain & weather, human terrain, critical infrastructure, politics and governance.
ASRT investment priorities are the mobile command unit, communications equipment, sensors, UAS and c-UAS tools, electronic warfare enhancements, training infrastructure, and talent management. We aim to work philanthropic opportunities. Two non-profits we’re looking to integrate in our efforts are Look For Me charity and the War Party Movement.
Approach
Effective Decision Making NAPS
US&R encompasses many different types of incidents requiring a wide range of expertise and resources at all levels of government, and from within a diverse community of police services, emergency management, and specialized volunteer organizations. It is therefore a key objective of this project to deliver an interoperable US&R solution that will support information and knowledge sharing while fostering mutual aid and interjurisdictional cooperation.
This important objective will be accomplished by building upon and integrating the core capabilities of adaptable and flexible technology platforms, which have been widely deployed and have proven to be reliable within both military and public safety environments. Services and solutions are provided by this team that are critical to the advancement of public safety.
Now this is simply an idea started back in 2020. At some point it will be built out and responding to disasters.
Methods
The cornerstone of an efficient response, lies in the ability of relevant stakeholders to communicate effectively. During a disaster response in particular, those stakeholders are burdened with additional tasks, while standard methods of communication can be rendered unavailable. This strain has the potential to increase exponentially based on those two factors, until it overloads the most in demand resource for disaster response elements. With the increase in communication traffic directly relating to the increased workload, and being inverse to the decreasing availability of communications solutions. This operational relationship is where we focused the deployment of the secondary network.
The directed actions that are taken are involving command and control (C2) are: developing a concept of employment for assigned services, developing joint task force, developing options for information command, and establishing revisions for command and control planning doctrines which find gaps in multi-domain operations. Further analysis consists of Special Operations Augmentation Reconnaissance (SOAR), reconnaissance and counter reconnaissance (RXR), and operations in the information environment.
Logistics and its directed actions encompass centralized command with inventory management and policy, developing revised service strategies and establishing distribution of those strategies, providing support plans. ASRT must continuously foster interactive command relationships to determine capabilities and meet FEMA organizational goals with experimentation to refine multifunctional domain operations.
Training and talent management is integral to planning. It adds to recruiting and operator retention.
Search & Rescue ICS must improve results, enhance national interoperability between organizations. ASRT must also support information, data, and knowledge sharing. Building response capabilities and supporting emergency management by fostering mutual aid, and interjurisdictional cooperation. All the above is executed by keeping unclassified operations logs, task assignments, search team management, automated data collection, integrated centralized databases, and knowledge management. Our method of approach is to implement the ATAK situational awareness application; it allows real time data curation, US&R tactical mission management, GPS track recording related to teams, radius rings and waypoints, clues, routes, communications, image and file sharing along with video playback.
