U.S. NAVY SALVAGE REPORT DEEPWATER HORIZON ... - ESSM

Chapter 2: Command and Organization
of them provided Navy - Coast Guard Liaison support at Coast Guard Headquarters in
Washington, D.C. Engineering Duty Officers, who were available provided was on-site
supervision and tracking. This was important because of the extensive geographic dispersal of
SUPSALV equipment and contractor personnel. Gulfport management team not only needed to
keep tabs on the ESSM operation and operators but also needed a report on any Task Force or
ICP issues affecting their teams. Serving as a part of the SUPSALV team also provided the
Reservist and ED Officers excellent training and experience in working in the ICS.
2-1.4 CNIC
A Coast Guard Request for Assistance (RFA) was approved by U.S. Navy for equipment
belonging to Navy shore installations. That equipment belongs to the Commander, Naval
Installations Command (CNIC). The plan was to ship their equipment to Gulfport where the CNIC
management team would assign it as directed. On 22 June, the CNIC Management Team
arrived at State Pier, Gulfport and was briefed by SUPSALV and a USCG Representative on
site. A second ESSM Command Van was made available and CNIC began to organize their
systems as they arrived in Gulfport.
CNIC provided the following equipment:
• 8 Kvichak belt skimmers
• 3 NOFI Harbor Buster
• Associated personnel and support boats
Because CNIC oil spill response equipment is assigned to specific facilities, it was not obtained
or configured to be easily transportable or sustainable in the field. It was also generally designed
for use in calm waters, harbors or ports, and not very suitable for use in open-ocean or exposed
bodies of water. Given the CNIC system capabilities and lack of mobile logistics support, the
CNIC equipment was initially co-located with SUPSALV, so the Navy (SUPSALV) could provide
logistics support and simplify deployment, system operations, and crew support before follow-on
deployment. CNIC distributed a concept of operations (CONOPS) with stability tables to ensure
the ICP task force leaders understood the capabilities and limitations of CNIC’s smaller Kvichak
skimmer systems. CNIC equipment and operators fell under ICS Houma or Mobile if it was not
deployed to a Navy Base (Pensacola Naval Air Station for example). However, CNIC exercised
oversight remotely similar to how SUPSALV did with SUPSALV assets.
2-2 Issues Operating in Incident Command Structure (ICS)
SUPSALV has operated as a member of a federalized incident command system in the past
including the federalized response to Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. This DWH incident resulted in
creation of multiple ICPs and SUPSALV’s role required interaction at multiple levels within the
organization. As can be expected, there were challenges associated with operating in such a
expansive organization. They included:
2-4