This story was written by Pacific Missile Range Facility Mass Communication Spc. 1st Class Louis Lea
The ability to respond effectively when a crisis strikes Kauaʻi often comes down to the community’s ability to work together. Connections with peers and neighbors developed by Pacific Missile Range Facility, Barking Sands, Emergency Management Officer Kelly Balmores more often than not prove to be critical in emergencies.
Balmores was born and raised in Kōloa on Kauaʻi’s South Shore and is a Kauaʻi High School graduate. He spent the past 15 years serving Pacific Missile Range Facility and the community, developing emergency response procedures and promoting community readiness.
The U.S. Navy installation emergency management officer joined the U.S. Army after a brief stint working in local restaurants. He was deployed in August 1990 to Iraq, serving as a 12 Bravo combat engineer in support of Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm.
Balmores transitioned to civilian law enforcement following his military service and later spent 10 years with the U.S. Department of Energy.
“That’s where I got into emergency response and incident command systems,” he said, noting he was primarily the “boots on the ground” for Energy Department operations.
Balmores in 2001 brought that expertise back to Kauaʻi, initially serving as Pacific Military Range Facility installation training officer. He officially became the permanent emergency management officer in 2018 after several years of working in both positions.
His expertise is backed by the highly selective Navy Emergency Manager certification, a rigorous qualification requiring real-world incident experience, multiple years as an emergency management officer and completion of 50 specific duty tasks.
Balmores is one of roughly 40 personnel enterprise-wide with the designation.
Successful emergency management for him hinges on community integration and proactive coordination.
“There’s a saying out there … when an incident is occurring, that’s not the time to be trading business cards,” Balmores said.
Growing up on Kauaʻi gave him a unique advantage; many of Pacific Missile Range Facility key partners in emergency management are people Balmores already knew or even with whom he went to school.
“Establishing those relationships before an emergency is important,” he said.
These lifelong relationships proved critical during real-world crises when the missile range installation and Kauaʻi County share limited resources.
Balmores coordinated with the county to use U.S. Navy landing craft to shuttle ambulances, bulldozers, food and water to residents cut off during the 2018 severe rain events and landslides on the island’s North Shore.
The unique military resources at Pacific Missile Range Facility similarly played a pivotal role in assisting local first responders during the Kaumakani fires.
“We brought out military aircraft with larger buckets into play, which really controlled the fire; whereas, the community’s buckets were smaller,” Balmores said. “They started to get the fire under control because of a resource we were able to share to keep the community safe.”
He acts as a liaison officer for Kauaʻi Emergency Management, teaches Federal Emergency Management Agency courses for local agencies and is a voting member on the Local Emergency Planning Committee, which is tackling complex islandwide challenges such as safe disposal of toxic electrical vehicle batteries.
Balmores remains motivated by a desire to help his community, whether he’s planning for future hazards or responding to an immediate threat.
“Because we’re such a small island and such a small base, whether an incident involves the county, state or [Pacific Missile Range Facility], we’re partners,” he said.
September is National Preparedness Month.
It is more crucial than ever to make sure your family is prepared for an emergency as storms continue brewing in the Pacific and after Kauaʻi County experienced impacts from Hurricane Lowell.
Planning, putting together a go kit and talking with your family about what to expect are important first steps toward personal readiness. Click here for additional preparedness information.
Pacific Missile Range Facility is the world’s largest instrumented multi-domain range, capable of simultaneously supporting surface, subsurface, air and space operations.
The U.S. Navy installation in West Kauaʻi ensures mission readiness and safety of its military and civilian workforce as well as the broader community through dedicated emergency management, interagency drills and mutual aid partnerships.
Pacific Missile Range Facility, Barking Sands, Emergency Management Officer Kelly Balmores was born and raised in in Kōloa on Kauaʻi’s South Shore and is a Kauaʻi High School graduate. (Courtesy Photo: Pacific Missile Range Facility)- Kelly Balmores is a former member of U.S. Army. He was deployed in August 1990 to Iraq, serving in support of Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm. (Courtesy Photo: Pacific Missile Range Facility)
