Photo By Capt. Michael Thompson | The 78th Homeland Response Force is pictured with with Coffee County Tennessee...... read more read more
CLAY NATIONAL GUARD CENTER, MARIETTA, Ga. – Soldiers and airmen of the 78th Homeland Response Force from the Georgia National Guard joined the Coffee County department of Emergency Management and Homeland Security for a first responder exercise in Manchester, Tenn. The table-top/discussion group exercise allowed planners of both departments to test their emergency response plans based on a large draw event such as the Bonnaroo Music Festival, which can have more than 100,000 in attendance.
“The importance of this exercise is to bring all our first responders, as well as private organizations like Bonnaroo, to work together to work through an exercise, whether it be natural disaster or terrorist type event, to work through our plans and find gaps or weaknesses in our plans,” said Allen Lendley, director of Coffee County Emergency Management and Homeland Security. “This allows us to be better prepared for such incidents to respond and help citizens or patrons of events like Bonnaroo.”
The 78th HRF is one of 10 homeland response forces selected to support FEMA as a consequence management agency for chemical, biological, radiological, and/or nuclear (CBRN) incidents. The unit completed the homeland security exercise Vigilant Guard in September of 2012, validating it as a superior incident consequence management team.
The 78th HRF supports FEMA Region IV and would provide aid to those attending the event.
The 78th HRF mobilized airmen and soldiers from the 78th HRF command group, based out of the Clay National Guard Center in Marietta, Ga., to the Coffee County administrative services building to work on the four-day exercise. The Tennessee National Guard, 30th Troop Command provided additional facilities for the unit.
In a matter of hours, the 78th HRF had arrived in Manchester ready to provide aide to the affected communities and assistance to civil authorities. As part of their role in the exercise, the unit fully integrated with the civilian agencies within Manchester and committed to providing the aid requested. Operations would run throughout the night and continue as long as needed.
“This is important for the Georgia National Guard to integrate with local entities outside the state of Georgia during phase zero operations,” said Maj. Stephen Tucker, the 78th HRF planning officer. “This is the coordination for all plans and how an incident command system works inside a national incident management system. This kind of interaction on a first name basis is critical to getting all the emergency response plans integrated.”
Simultaneously, CBRN units from Tennessee, Alabama and Kentucky were simulated as mobilizing to respond to the Bonnaroo incident to provide the additional support that would be needed.
These CBRN units are well trained Guardsmen with the capability to provide search and extraction, decontamination, medical aid, life saving support, and security to those affected in the event of an incident.
Commanded by Col. Michael Scholes, Sr., since Dec. 1, 2010, the 78th HRF’s mission is to man, train and equip a homeland response force that can provide a response capability to assist civil authorities in saving lives and mitigating suffering in response to a CBRN incident.
The 78th HRF’s first official Defense Support to Civil Authorities (DSCA) event was the 2012 National Democratic Convention. The unit supported the North Carolina National Guard’s Task Force Panther as a CBRN task force.
The soldiers and airmen who participated in the National Level Exercises Noble Eagle and Vigilant Guard, and called upon within 24 hours to support the convention, made another historical moment for the National Guard.
| Date Taken: | 03.08.2013 |
| Date Posted: | 03.08.2013 17:23 |
| Story ID: | 103182 |
| Location: | MARIETTA, GA, US |
| Web Views: | 209 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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