Photo By Brian Dietrick | U.S. Army Maj. Gen. Jeff W. Mathis III, commander, Joint Task Force Civil Support,...... read more read more
FORT EUSTIS, Va. – Leaders from the Israeli Defense Force Homefront Command visited Joint Task Force Civil Support May 7, to learn how the unit oversees military responders in the U.S. if ordered to respond to a catastrophic chemical, biological, radiological or nuclear incident.
The visit was part of a larger, continuous collaboration between JTF-CS and different response agencies to foster a common understanding of what JTF-CS does and the capabilities brought to support a lead federal agency during a homeland complex catastrophe. Likewise, Israeli Maj. Gen. Yaakcov Ayish, defense attaché to the U.S. and Canada, provided a brief on current activities that are trending in the Middle East and what the Israeli Defense Force believes are the greatest threats to Israel’s homeland security.
JTF-CS provides command and control of 5,200 federal military forces—known as the Defense CBRN Response Force—88 units located at more than 36 locations throughout the U.S.
The Israelis received answers to questions relating to JTF-CS’ interaction and interoperability with civil authorities, the challenges of command and control, support to civilian residents and healthcare challenges during disasters. They were also briefed on the employment of battalion task forces within the defense CBRN response force, a newer concept which capitalizes on the DCRF’s life-saving capabilities.
“The primary task of the DCRF’s battalion task forces are to locate and extract survivors within the contaminated zone and ensure they receive medical care,” said Stan Bacon, JTF-CS deputy director of plans and policy.
JTF-CS and the DCRF provide a variety of life-saving and sustaining response capabilities focused around six core capabilities; mission command, identification and detection, search and extraction, decontamination, medical triage and stabilization, and medical evacuation.
“No one has those capabilities in the Department of Defense but us,” said U.S Army Maj. Gen. Jeff W. Mathis III, commander, JTF-CS. “Our forces within the CBRN response enterprise are a very finite set of personnel and capabilities and our mission is to provide domestic consequence management support for a chemical, biological, radiological or nuclear event.”
The Home Front Command, the Israeli equivalent to the National Guard, was established following the Gulf War in 1992 to better respond with military forces tailored to homeland defense. The Home Front Command specializes in the field of civilian protection, operating during emergency situations throughout Israel, as well as around the world and regularly meet with U.S. military responders to exchange ideas and procedures on response following a natural or man-made catastrophe.
"The Israeli Home Front Command and the U.S. military have a longstanding relationship that includes the exchange of best practices and lessons learned from both real-world events and training," said Israeli Lt. Col. Chezy Deutsch, the Home Front Command liaison officer to the National Guard Bureau.
"While the threats that each country prepares for and deals with may be different, the challenges of a military operating in the civilian arena and working in conjunction with numerous civilian agencies in support of the civilian population are very similar," he said.
Ayish said that the visit was “very enlightening” and stressed the importance of knowing the latest response procedures because a homeland response to a catastrophic event in either nation will need to be rapid.
JTF-CS continues to refine its response procedures and timelines and will validate them during two exercises this summer: Sudden Response tests the ability to deploy and redeploy from a CBRN incident during a command post exercise at Fort A.P. Hill, Va. Vibrant Response will validate JTF-CS response timelines, decision-making procedures and ability to command the 5,200-plus DCRF.
| Date Taken: | 05.07.2013 |
| Date Posted: | 05.10.2013 14:55 |
| Story ID: | 106743 |
| Location: | FORT EUSTIS, VA, US |
| Web Views: | 172 |
| Downloads: | 1 |
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