Subscribe
MUSCATATUCK URBAN TRAINING CENTER, Ind. - In the event of a catastrophic domestic incident, such as a nuclear attack, certain protocols are in place to ensure that relief efforts are met in an efficient and orderly fashion.
Soldiers from the 561st Military Police Company, 16th Military Police Battalion of Fort Campbell, Kentucky, have set up a cordon at the decontamination area here for Vibrant Response ‘14.
“Our Military police are conducting crowd control at the front of the mass casualty decontamination (MCD) area to focus crowds towards the triage and casualty collection points and keep them from crossing any lines into the MCD,” said Capt. Robert Rapone, commander of the 561st MP Company. “Additionally, we are conducting traffic control points at the rear area to facilitate emergency vehicles into the area and then escort them out to the DMAT and any landing zones for medevac.”
Setting up a cordon for a decon site is not a typical role for an MP Company but, in the event of a disaster scenario, it is a task these Soldiers are well-prepared for.
“The Soldiers have been training for the last two to three months on these tasks so they are absolutely prepared for it and they have done a phenomenal job out here,” said Rapone, a resident of Waynesville, Missouri.
“They’ve trained to be able to decontaminate themselves and then thus in turn protect themselves,” Rapone said. “They can be out there bringing in any casualties and facilitating the entire process of saving lives and mitigating any suffering.”
The VR ‘14 exercise at MUTC, conducted by U.S. Northern Command and led by U.S. Army North, is just the right setting to allow the soldiers to put their training to the test.
“We’re here to help mitigate human loss as much as possible through the decontamination lane and help the recovery efforts not only for getting people through the decon lane, but also helping the area get back up and running while reducing the amount of lives lost,” said Spc. Justin Colon, 561st MP Company, chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear specialist from Vineland, New Jersey.
The MUTC location is the largest, most elaborate training site these soldiers have experienced.
“At first, it was overwhelming coming here, because it’s a big training area,” Colon said, “but for me, it’s really exciting because the training that we had really built the Soldiers up to be able to handle the conditions that we’re in here.”
The overall mission of the exercise is to give Soldiers the experience and training of assuming the role of effectively assisting local, state and federal agencies in a time of a domestic attack.
“Soldiers might not know anything about Vibrant Response or CBRN chemical attacks, so we’ve learned a lot so far in this training,” said Spc. Jonathan Thompson, a military policeman with the 561st MP Company from Lapel, Indiana.
VR ‘14 has proven to be an effective and useful training exercise for the Soldiers.
“We’re extremely proud of the job they’re doing out here,” said Rapone, “taking on this mission that is somewhat outside of our realm and they’re executing it wonderfully.”
| Date Taken: | 07.25.2014 |
| Date Posted: | 07.26.2014 12:18 |
| Story ID: | 137404 |
| Location: | MUSCATATUCK URBAN TRAINING CENTER, INDIANA, US |
| Hometown: | LAPEL, INDIANA, US |
| Hometown: | VINELAND, NEW JERSEY, US |
| Hometown: | WAYNESVILLE, MISSOURI, US |
| Web Views: | 108 |
| Downloads: | 1 |
This work, Cordon the crowds and triage the throng: MPs step out of their realm and into Vibrant Response, by SPC Anthony Zane, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
