Incirlik families exercise with base Published Dec. 26, 2012 By Staff Sgt. Marissa Tucker 39th Air Base Wing Public Affairs INCIRLIK AIR BASE, Turkey -- Volunteer family members and civilian personnel of Incirlik showcased their mission readiness during a noncombatant evacuation operation exercise here Dec. 13. More than 75 spouses, children and Department of Defense civilians participated in the NEO exercise designed to test evacuation procedures for noncombatant members of the 39th Air Base Wing. The event was sponsored by the 39th Force Support Squadron to provide a realistic look at the process of an evacuation, said Master Sgt. Ann Mitchell, Airman & Family Readiness Center flight chief and wing NEO coordinator. The NEO program is a DoD requirement for all base commanders to develop plans for evacuating people from their installations in the event of natural disasters. During an evacuation, all noncombatant personnel are transported to either a temporary haven or back to their home of record. Because of the time sensitive nature of events that could cause an evacuation from Incirlik, holding exercises helps identify some of the potential issues that might prolong the process such as expired passports or missing documents. To identify some of these issues, representatives from several base agencies crucial to the evacuation process set up a processing line, similar to a deployment line for service members, to expedite the procedure. To provide a realistic experience, an agent from the U.S. Consulate in Adana attended the exercise to share his role in the process. "We can provide emergency passports to people in a short time if Incirlik has to evacuate family members," said John Espinoza, the U.S. Consul in Adana. "Our goal is to help American citizens get to a safe location should a situation arise." Other agencies like the veterinarian clinic, chapel and finance office attended to view exercise evacuees' documents to ensure their paperwork was correct while also helping participants understand exactly what each document was for. That extra step provided some reassurance, and, for some, it gave more to think about. "I've never been through anything like this before, and it's really a learning process," said Kiana Mack, wife of Master Sgt. Rickie Mack, 39th Maintenance Squadron first sergeant. "I believe it went pretty smooth and it's good to know what you need to have. Now we know what we may have to plan for like hotel costs, plane tickets in the states and things like that." At the end of the event, participants were invited aboard a C-17 Globemaster aircraft to get a feel for the type of aircraft they could possibly be evacuated on. One participant said getting on the plane brought reality to his situation. "I'm pretty new to the Air Force, but especially to this kind of thing. I had no idea what to expect," said Brian Loska, husband of Tech. Sgt. Elizabeth Loska, a dental technician in the 39th Medical Group. "You never realize how many things you should memorize like phone numbers or address until you really need them in a crunch." The success of the event was largely credited to the efforts of the wing NEO program coordinators, exercise inspection monitors and the volunteers who helped validate the efficiency of the process. Although the exercise is over, the NEO program coordinators hope to increase awareness with monthly informational courses and more planned exercises. While there are no current plans to evacuate Incirlik, the 39th FSS wants to ensure the wing is always ready.