Photo By Tech. Sgt. Scott Herrington | Members of the Iowa National Guard 71st Civil Support Team simulate a chemical...... read more read more
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DULUTH, Minn.- Members of the 71st Civil Support Team (CST) simulated chemical, biological and radiological disasters in Duluth, Minn., Aug. 27, 2015, as part of Vigilant Guard 2015, a National Guard Bureau-U.S. Northern Command initiative that is intended to foster and enhance cooperation between National Guard and State interagency partners.
In addition, to participating in multiple training scenarios, the Iowa National Guard members brought four members of the Kosovo Security Forces (KSF) to observe and shadow the exercises as part of a Iowa-Kosovo partnership that began in 2011.
“From the 71st CST’s perspective, we are very grateful for the Kosovars coming over this week and making the long journey to participate in Vigilant Guard with us,” said Maj. Jeffrey L. Largent, 71st CST commander. “This has been a great representation of how you do a multiagency response to a chemical or biological event.”
According to Largent, the Iowa National Guard Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear Defense (CBRN) team share similar mission objectives, utilize alike, if not the same equipment and face many of the same problems as their KSF partners.
KSF Civil Protection Regiment Platoon Leader, 1st Lt. Bujar Ferizi, was among the KSF representatives participating in the week-long exercise.
“We will take away this knowledge and use it in our unit—it was very critical to see the way they use their equipment,” said 1st Lt. Ferizi. “I’m really thankful to the U.S. Army, Iowa National Guard and the United States Government for doing this not only for the KSF, but for Kosovo.”
Four Vigilant Guard exercises have been conducted annually throughout the United States since 2006.
| Date Taken: | 08.27.2015 |
| Date Posted: | 08.28.2015 14:54 |
| Story ID: | 174591 |
| Location: | IA, US |
| Web Views: | 193 |
| Downloads: | 7 |
This work, Iowa National Guard Civil Support Team trains in Vigilant Guard 2015, by TSgt Scott Herrington, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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