135th Mobile Public Affairs Detachment

Story by Spc. Cassandra Monroe

DES MOINES, Iowa – The 71st Civil Support Team from the Iowa National Guard responded to calls of train derailments and possible chemical hazardous material at scrap metal processing plant in Des Moines.

This may sound like another disaster that the state needs to recover from, like the floods of 2008 that ravished small towns and permanently damaged some streets in Cedar Rapids, but this is just part of a nationwide training exercise called Vigilant Guard.

The purpose of the Vigilant Guard is to test command of control at higher levels and to execute emergency response plans in our region, said Army Capt. Derrick Moore, the operations officer for the 71st CST. This is the first Vigilant Guard exercise that the CST has participated in. However, he observed one just like it in Puerto Rico a few months ago.

The CST's mission is to support the incident command and to advise them and to help identify hazards associated with an incident. The team also has an active outreach program where they train with these responders and attend meetings and planning sessions.

"This is a National Guard exercise done in conjunction with the local police department," said Chief Warrant Officer John Wynn, the command chief of warrant officers for Iowa.

"The exercise is designed to make us work hand-in-hand, and then for them to access the right communications channels through their chain of command, then go to the governor or the adjutant general for assistance with the National Guard," said Wynn.

"We go in and provide them with something that they don't have the capability to do, or manpower doesn't allow them to do that mission."

For this Vigilant Guard exercise here, the first scenario that the CST was called out for included groups of disgruntled railroad employees, who were played by contracted civilian role players, that initiate an attack against their employers using explosives, and results in a train derailment and chemical release inside urban population centers. At this location, the CST worked with many agencies including, but not limited to, the Des Moines Police and Fire Departments, Polk County Medical Examiner and the county emergency management.

Our team comes to the scene to try to identify the situation and to understand exactly what is going on, said Moore. We have assets to go into the affected area and conduct field analyses to determine the hazards associated with the incident and provide recommendations to the incident commander.

Throughout the year, the team is constantly training and maintaining their equipment, but they have many real-world situations they can add to their list. They deployed to Minnesota to help assist local and federal law enforcement agencies associated with the Republican National Convention in September 2008.

"We worked directly with the Department of Energy and developed a screening method for possible radiation detection, trying to deter any type of radiation type of event such as someone trying to set off an improvised explosive device," said Moore.

Other real-world situations include being a part of the Katrina response, the National Governor's Conference here in Des Moines, as well as the Iowa State Fair every year.

From this exercise, Moore expects to improve on strong interaction and the relationship between the CST and the first responders so when real severe situations do arise, they can work together seamlessly.

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