Photo By Betty Burke-Fox | Federal, state and local partners participate in NUWAIX 13, a component of Ardent...... read more read more
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MALMSTROM AIR FORCE BASE, Mont. - With the hurricane and wildfire seasons fast-approaching, DTRA/SCC-WMD joined thousands of military members, DOD personnel and interagency partners in fine-tuning their disaster-response processes this month as part of exercise Ardent Sentry 13.
Ardent Sentry is an annual U.S. Northern Command (USNORTHCOM) and North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) exercise focused on defense support scenarios that provide civil authorities with military capabilities needed to save lives, prevent human suffering, and mitigate property damage.
This year’s participants – DTRA/SCC-WMD, the National Guard, U.S. Strategic Command, FEMA, FBI, Coast Guard, DOE and other interagency partners – worked together in Montana, Florida, and South Carolina to manage notional crisis scenarios, ranging from a break-in to a U.S. weapons facility to three hurricanes striking the U.S. coastline.
Each exercise component challenged participants to monitor potential disasters, anticipate requests for defense support and posture the military’s rapid response capability.
In Montana, the Air Force Global Strike Command responded to Nuclear Weapons Accident/Incident Exercise 13 (NUWAIX 13) – an exercise developed and executed by DTRA/SCC-WMD - in response to a nuclear incident scenario near Malmstrom Air Force Base.
While, in Florida, the Florida National Guard worked with state and local officials to respond to major hurricanes and hazardous material events.
In South Carolina, the National Guard conducted field training events at multiple locations in response to a hurricane and hazardous material events. And along the U.S.-Mexico border, U.S. Army North (USARNORTH) trained with the Mexican military to provide a coordinated response to a simulated CBRNE event.
DTRA/SCC-WMD personnel were involved in various components of these exercises. J7 Readiness and Exercise planners assisted USNORTHCOM and USARNORTH in developing and executing Ardent Sentry 13 and J3 Operations and Nuclear Support exercise planners developed and executed NUWAIX 13.
J3 Consequence Management Advisory Teams (CMAT) deployed in support of multiple components of Ardent Sentry and NUWAIX.
The agency/center’s public affairs (PA) office, JOXGP, provided synthetic media support to NUWAIX and augmentation PA support to deployed CMAT teams.
DTRA/SCC-WMD General Council provided augmentation support to CMAT throughout NUWAIX. Additionally, DTRA/SCC-WMD’s reach-back capability provided modeling support for all hurricane exercise venues, as well as development of modeling products to support USARNORTH and Mexican military response efforts.
Brig. Gen. Michael Fortney, DTRA Director of Operations and Nuclear Support, J3/J7 who served as exercise director for the NUWAIX component of Ardent Sentry said, "The exercise participants tackled the most complex weapons incident exercise that DTRA has ever conducted - and they did extremely well. The partnership and professionalism demonstrated by these players during the yearlong planning and subsequent high-tempo execution of the exercise was a model of teamwork and cooperation. Exactly what is needed when responding to these types events. Not only did we learn some valuable lessons to refine our procedures, but we gained a strong confidence that this team is ready to tackle any accident or incident at any time, however remote the chance of such an event occurring.”
Exercises such as Ardent Sentry are critical in ensuring the military is resourced and prepared to work together to support civil authorities in advance of real-world events.
Plans for next year’s Ardent Sentry scenario – a notional series of sudden earthquakes and aftershocks simultaneously striking various areas of the U.S. - are already underway and Ardent Sentry 14 is expected to be the largest exercise in the Ardent Sentry series.
| Date Taken: | 05.21.2013 |
| Date Posted: | 06.07.2013 16:25 |
| Story ID: | 108300 |
| Location: | MALMSTROM AIR FORCE BASE, MT, US |
| Web Views: | 654 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, DTRA/SCC-WMD supports Ardent Sentry 13, by Anne Marek, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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