Alaska State Defense Force outlines volunteer disaster-response role for Fairbanks

Lieutenant Nathan Smoot told the committee the Alaska State Defense Force (ASDF) is a volunteer, governor-controlled military reserve that augments the National Guard and other agencies during disasters and can provide damage assessment, debris removal, deployable water treatment and training support across the state.

“We are a trained and organized military reserve that is directly under the direction of the governor of Alaska and nobody else,” Smoot said, describing the ASDF’s legal basis in Alaska statute and U.S. code and its integration with other response organizations.

Smoot said activation of ASDF personnel as a state resource requires submission of an ICS Form 213 to the Emergency Operations Center; requesting the broader Alaska organized militia rather than the ASDF specifically can expand the options available to the EOC and joint operations center. He also said ASDF volunteers frequently hold additional roles with organizations such as the Red Cross, Civil Air Patrol and local search-and-rescue teams and that ASDF members work to bridge FEMA, military and local emergency-management practices.

On staffing, Smoot said statewide membership is approximately 300 volunteers and the local Fairbanks unit has remained under 10 members. He said the ASDF drills monthly, is unpaid, and is open to joint training and interoperability exercises with borough fire and emergency personnel — though outreach to local schools has been limited by volunteer time constraints.

Smoot closed by offering local contact information for ASDF leaders and encouraging joint training to improve surge capacity during disasters.