US Northern Command is working on a proposal to build a specially trained and equipped active duty force that would respond quickly to assist relief efforts in the event of massive natural disasters, such as floods, hurricanes, or earthquakes. Adm. Timothy Keating, commander of NORTHCOM, told the New York Times that the idea was drawn from the “lessons learned” process following Hurricane Katrina. Keating hasn’t yet floated the notion by Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld. He believes such a force could involve active duty units supplementing National Guard troops and could be modeled on existing rapid-response units, such as the ready brigade of the Army’s 82nd Airborne at Ft. Bragg, N.C.
In the small world of Air Force weather specialists, combat weather specialists are a niche unto themselves, deploying with Army ground units to provide forecasts and, if need be, fight alongside those Soldiers. For Staff Sgt. Francisco Estrada, the hardest part of the job isn’t the possibility of ground combat,…
