Photo By Staff Sgt. Kelsey Blankenship | Soldiers from the 877th Engineer Company, out of Augusta, Ga., help decontaminate each...... read more read more
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FORT BRAGG, N.C. – Soldiers from across the southeastern United States gathered throughout the state of North Carolina to participate in the Vigilant Guard training exercise that took place the week of Aug. 30.
The exercise allowed civilian and military first responders to work side-by-side while learning from each other in life-like scenarios, which could play out due to natural or man-made disasters. Scenarios were held across the state and one exercise, Aug. 30, brought National Guard emergency response soldiers from North Carolina, Georgia and Alabama to Fort Bragg to show their skills in crisis management when facing a chemical attack.
“We have the opportunity to learn from each other. They’re learning from us [and] we’re learning from them. It enhances everything for the greater good and the bigger picture,” said Sgt. 1st Class Chauncy Ivey, a soldier with 877th Engineer Company out of Augusta, Ga.
Vigilant Guard opened doors for the soldiers and first responders with training that they would not have available during just any training exercise. Civilian role players with life-like injuries added realistic pressure to the scenario. The soldiers were dressed from head to toe in level-C chemical suits, and quickly traveled through the building where the role-players were sprawled out and moaning in what sounded to be true pain caused by a chemical attack. Executing a mass-casualty evacuation operation, the soldiers moved through the rooms yelling out to each other, sounding like robots through their muffling gas masks, to notify the rest of the team of the situation at hand. As the soldiers moved through the buildings and got the victims to the decontamination point, Cape Fear Valley Emergency Medical Services – a local civilian first-response agency – stood by with ambulances ready to go for their part of the mission.
“We actually did some search-and-extraction where we had victims spread out through different buildings and we had to locate them and identify what their symptoms were, remove them safely and take them through the whole decontamination process in case there were any kind of chemical or biological agents out there,” said Spc. Charles Reynolds, of the 877th Engineer Battalion. “That was pretty helpful to have real actors out there instead of just dummies.”
Each state’s National Guard’s first mission is a state mission. These units respond to natural and man-made disasters if called upon by their governor. These are not necessarily issues that can be rehearsed by a single unit, but during Vigilant Guard, the resources that each unit brings to the table allows for the best possible training to be conducted.
“This is a very important exercise to train to perfect the response of the National Guard to a large natural disaster, or some big event where there are a lot of people that are hurt,” said Maj. Gen. Perry Smith, Adjutant General of the Alabama National Guard. “This unit is trained to show up rapidly and to take over after the first responders have exhausted their capabilities. These soldiers and Airmen … come in to that area to save lives and to reduce the suffering of those individuals who will have been hurt by this incident. They’re here to train, to practice what they would do if there were an event. The more they practice the better they get.”
“They are ready to respond to any incident like that but it’s because of important exercises like Vigilant Guard,” Smith said.
The National Guardsmen training on Fort Bragg have experience in their fields of expertise. These soldiers have everything from deployments to state activations under their belts to help them be efficient in their jobs, and help them to work with other soldiers.
“These soldiers, if you look around, most have a combat patch on. They’ve served in Afghanistan and in Iraq, as well as in exercises like this. The National Guard is what is best for America,” Smith said. “Not only do we go to war but we are also here to take care of the citizens in case there are some issues like this to come up. The National Guard’s got it. We’ve got homeland security, we’ve got that dual mission. We go to war and we also take care of our citizens back here at home,” he said. “We do all of this for a fraction of the cost compared to the active component.”
As North Carolina’s 2012 Vigilant Guard ends, other states will host Vigilant Guard exercises in future years. The soldiers will continue to perfect their skills in different aspects of their careers and help train the soldiers under them.
“They’re here to train, to practice what they would do if there was an event. The more they practice, the better they get. They are ready to respond to any incident like that, but it is because of important exercises like Vigilant Guard that they are ready to respond.”
| Date Taken: | 08.30.2012 |
| Date Posted: | 09.03.2012 17:19 |
| Story ID: | 94167 |
| Location: | NC, US |
| Web Views: | 235 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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