MARINE CORPS AIR STATION IWAKUNI, Japan -- Think it can't happen here? Well it happened when a Tsunami hit the northern part of Sumatra. It happened in Somalia after rebel forces entered and took the city of Mogadishu and it even happened more recently in New Orleans when Hurricane Katrina left nearly 400,000 homeless.
The fact is disasters can happen; whether caused by Mother Nature or man, everyone should be prepared.
To better prepare Station residents, NEO coordinators hosted an annual Non-combatant Evacuation Operation 'Family Night' at the Iwakuni Ball Room, Oct. 20.
"NEO is a process to remove evacuees from danger, quickly and efficiently," said Lt. Col. Brian L. Ku, Station Non-Combatant Evacuation Operation coordinator.
Some of the cases in which NEO would be necessary are natural disasters (earthquake, typhoon, tsunami), a sudden crisis (terrorist act, military hostilities), or a civil disorder.
Family night provided residents with useful information on the NEO process, expectations if a NEO were to occur, and how to complete NEO kits and packages.
"The information they gave us was very useful," said Joy B. Poynor, NEO attendee and Alma, Ark. Native. "I thought NEO was only for evacuating us to the States, but it's really not, we can get evacuated to other locations as well."
During a NEO, military family members, non-essential personnel, and American citizens will be evacuated by air, sea or land to a safe haven or the United States. This evacuation process can take up to 72 hours to get started and could last days or weeks depending on the amount of evacuees.
There are four separate steps to the NEO process: assembly, processing, relocation and evacuation. During a NEO all residents will assemble and be processed at the Station gymnasium before being moved to a relocation center.
During NEO night representatives were available to provide assistance and answer questions to residents.
"One of the most important questions I had today was about the euthanasia form," said Army Capt. Kevin L. Hinton, Station veterinarian and Wilmington, Del. native. "A lot of people think that it's mandatory during a NEO, but it's not. We will take care of the animals here until there is space available flight.
"The chances of an emergency evacuation happening is slim to none, but if it did happen the impact would be huge effecting all people aboard Station, which is why this training is extremely important," said Ku.
For more information about NEO, visit the NEO information website at http://intranet.iwakuni.usmc.mil/NEO_Info/.