Not only do natural disaster threaten lives of service members, they also cause a significant economic toll in the short and long-term for installations.

Supported by Air Force Installation and Mission Support Center (AFIMSC), financial experts utilize requirement validators to keep bases mission ready and recover speedily.

AFIMSC created a Storm Damage Tracker to document infrastructure damage and get installations the necessary funding or reimbursement as soon as possible for repairs or replacement.

“I feel for these installations when I see some of the damage they go through and how it impacts their missions,” said Dave Thomander, Facilities Sustainment, Repair and Modernization requirement validator in the Air Force Civil Engineer Center’s Planning and Integration Directorate. “I want to help out and get them back on their feet so they can get the mission going again.”

AFIMSC validators reach out to installations as soon as they’re notified of disaster events to find out the extent of damage and provide help as needed.

“We work hard to let people know about the resource,” Thomander said, “There are many installations who may not fully leverage this process … we want to ensure they understand the process and the benefits in the form of direct resourcing or reimbursement.

“My internal driver is to get to them quickly so we help in the process of resources flowing to those installations,” he said.

Photo by Stars and Stripes