Photo By 1st Lt. Brianne Roudebush | Two members of the Task Force 9th Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear, and...... read more read more
VOLK FIELD, Wis. – Over the course of two days, six separate "chalks", or groups of military troops, of the Task Force 9th Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear, and Explosive Enhanced Response Force Package service members flew out of Travis Air Force Base in northern California to participate in the Joint Patriot Exercise at Volk Field Combat Readiness Training Center, Wis., July, 2011.
One of the advantages of conducting Joint Patriot 2011 at Volk Field was that TF 9th CERFP was able to validate their ability to move by military air transportation from California to Wisconsin, said Capt. Cory Marks, the CERFP operations officer, 579th Engineer Battalion, 49th Military Police Brigade.
TF 9th CERFP, which consists of California Army and Air National Guard units, was the first team to successfully move all their equipment and personnel via military aircraft. They transported 19 F350's, two F450's, 15 trailors, one air compressor trailer, two vans, one Ford Expedition, and two gators all loaded with equipment and 198 service members in several C17A’s that made multiple trips.
The Joint Patriot Exercise is a multi-agency, annual training event sponsored by the National Guard Bureau. Scenarios are conducted within the exercises that increase individual and unit readiness.
In the training scenario run this year, a search warrant was executed in which radiation was detected during an international military air show, a special security event. Following that, was a vehicle collision and an explosion that resulted in the collapse of two buildings.
The local authorities were the first to respond. The state authorities were the next to arrive and, after realizing they were not equipped to handle the enormity of the situation, they requested the assistance of other agencies, such as the FBI and the National Guard CERFP.
“The premise behind us doing this is that we are training the military to use the incident command system,” said Marks. “Every Soldier here understands the basics of the ICS. This type of training helps with our ability to coordinate with other agencies. It requires coordination to occur outside our comfort zone.”
Once the CERFP arrived at the scenario site, the decontamination element had 90 minutes to have all their equipment operational.
They had almost everything up in 75 minutes and were completely operational by 90 minutes, said Staff Sgt. Richard Gonzalez, the DECON NCO with Detachment 1, 149th Chemical Company.
“We worked well as a team and we got the equipment set up within the time standards and that’s the main point,” said Sonora, Calif., resident Spc. Sara Brown, with 149th Chem Company out of Turlock, Calif.,
In addition to setting up equipment, the scene of the collapsed buildings was surveyed for radiation and a team was sent in to evaluate the structure’s stability and possible location of victims.
Service members who entered the disaster site were required to wear full DECON suits. These gray and tan suits consist of two pairs of gloves, bright orange, rubber boots, an oxygen mask and a helmet. Everything is sealed with duct tape to ensure harmful chemicals cannot penetrate the suit. Their vitals were monitored every time they got in and out of their protective suits.
During the second day of the scenario, role players and service members exiting the site of the collapsed buildings were sent through the decontamination tents where the DECON team showered and scrubbed them down, removing all contaminated particles.
The search and extraction element suited up and entered the site to make contact with victims trapped in the rubble.
One team used hydraulic impact tools and electric concrete drills and chippers to breach confined areas in order to search for victims, while another team used ropes and rigs to rappel into a tower from a bridge to rescue a trapped victim.
Brown said she thought the team was better trained and more prepared for this scenario and that it went very well.
“You know that saying, ‘practice makes perfect?’ The more you do it, it’s like muscle memory,” Brown said.
“The knowledge and experience within the unit definitely helped to successfully exceed well-beyond mission standards,” said Sgt. Ruben Bautista, with detachment 149th Chem Company.
| Date Taken: | 07.14.2011 |
| Date Posted: | 07.25.2011 13:22 |
| Story ID: | 74290 |
| Location: | VOLK FIELD, WI, US |
| Web Views: | 290 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, Joint Patriot exercise readies National Guard units for disaster, by 1LT Brianne Roudebush, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
No keywords found.
LEAVE A COMMENT