Heat index puts McChord on alert

  • Published
  • By Tyler Hemstreet
  • 62nd Airlift Wing Public Affairs
MCCHORD AIR FORCE BASE, Wash. -- --  "Black flag" might sound similar to a training exercise, but after local temperatures soared recently, Team McChord members should be a little more familiar with its definition. 

Last week's heat wave broke various temperature records on McChord, triggering several high Heat Category warnings. 

On July 29, a Heat Category 5 alert (90 degrees or hotter) was sent out -- the highest alert possible -- at around 3:30 p.m., and lasted nearly four hours. According to the Airman's Manual, during a Category 5 alert, those working in the sun or outside are required to drink one quart of water an hour and those performing heavy work are required to maintain a work/rest cycle of 10/50 minutes. 

The categories are determined by the Wet Bulb Globe Temperature, a method that describes how the human body perceives the relative heat of an environment. It adjust the ambient temperature for the effect of humidity, the cooling effect of evaporation
and the warming effect of the radiant heat of the sun, said Lt. Col. Jeffrey Mason, 62nd Medical Squadron bioenvironmental engineering element chief. 

"From July 27 to 29 at McChord, there were seven changes in Heat Categories," Colonel Mason said. The Command Post notifi ed the base populace of the alert  changes with base-wide emails, instant network notifications and announcements over the giant voice system. 

The extreme conditions prompted Airmen who do a majority of their work outside to take extra precautions. 

While high temperatures weren't  necessarily anything new to aircraft maintainers used to working in the searing desert heat at deployed locations, the extreme temperature spike in the usually mild conditions of McChord did take everyone by surprise, said Col. Tracy Smiedendorf, 62nd Maintenance Group commander. 

"It did force us into working conditions folks here only experience when deployed to the AOR, but over there you get used to it," Colonel Smiedendorf said. "We had to push hydration with our folks throughout the day and adjust their work/rest cycles to minimize
exposure to the elements." 

Additionally, fl ightline expeditor truck drivers kept their water jugs filled to support naintenance technicians working the line. 

"When the heat bulb rose to 'Black Flag' conditions, I had to ask our team if we even had a checklist for extreme heat which we did in fact have, but no one could remember the last time we ran it," he said. 

At the 62nd LRS fuels management headquarters, when Airmen needed a minute or two to cool off they would step into one of two air conditioned rooms in the building. 

In order to better prepare Airmen for the conditions, the section held a safety briefi ng each morning touching on the forecast and detailing proper work/rest cycles for the conditions, said 1st Lt. Brian Jorgensen, 62nd LRS fuels management flight commander. 

"We just did whatever it took to stay cool, keep our folks safe and still get the job done," Lieutenant Jorgensen said. 

While McChord likely won't see another heat wave this summer quite like last week, if temperatures do start to rise again, everyone will likely be more acclimated, Colonel Mason said. 

"People build up a tolerance to the heat when it comes on gradually," he said.