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    NCNG and NCEM conduct HURREX

    NCNG and NCEM conduct HURREX

    Photo By Brian Godette | U.S. Army Lt. Col. John DuBose, the surgeon assigned to the 30th Armored Brigade...... read more read more

    KURE BEACH, NC, UNITED STATES

    09.14.2015

    Story by Sgt. Brian Godette 

    382nd Public Affairs Detachment

    KURE BEACH, N.C. – North Carolina National Guard Soldiers assigned to the 30th Armored Brigade Combat Team conducted a training exercise at one of the Wilmington area beaches this weekend, but not for relaxation.

    The Soldiers trained alongside civilian counterparts with the North Carolina Emergency Management department during a hurricane emergency response scenario at the NCNG’s Fort Fisher Training Center, here, Sept. 11-13, 2015.

    “This is a hurricane exercise based off real-world events and training exercises we have done with emergency management,” said Sgt. Maj. Brian Webb, the operations sergeant major of the 30th ABCT. “This is the first time we've been able to incorporate them (NCEM) and the brigade staff to see how the events unfold when we are activated.”

    The notional training exercise prepped and tested the Soldiers from the beginning to end, going through every step as if it was a real-world event.

    “This exercise took us from five days prior to land fall, through (NCNG) Joint Force Headquarters issuing the operations order to the brigade, the brigade turning around and issuing the operations order to the battalion, standing up force packages and moving equipment and people from their locations to those areas prior to landfall of the hurricane,” Webb said.

    The training wasn't only suited for the 30th ABCT Soldiers, but the North Carolina civilian emergency management counterparts as well.

    “State emergency management is in-charge of all hazards, and we could be staffed with any other partner agency, so we practice like we fight,” said Melissa Greene, the Area 3 Coordinator with the North Carolina Emergency Management department.

    Working with the emergency management team provided a different experience for the Soldiers, who typically work solely within the military structure.

    “This is completely different from what we normally do,” said Webb. “As the brigade deploys, we go overseas, we're land owners. We own the area, we do this, this and this, as we take guidance from higher (command).”

    “With domestic operations we are not in charge, they (NCEM) are in charge,” Webb said. “As we train as a brigade staff, the mindset of the Soldier has to change that we are answering to someone else, not wearing this uniform.”

    The mindset for some emergency management professionals should also be reconsidered when thinking about the National Guard according to Greene.

    “It's good for the local emergency managers because they may not understand or realize what's out there for them, Guard wise,” Greene said. “Typically you look at the National Guard as military only and not really in the civilian world, but they melt very well together.”

    Soldiers of the NCNG are no stranger to helping the community with disaster response, with the last large response taking place during Hurricane Irene. Conducting training exercises with the NCEM helps to improve the communication and operations between the two agencies according to Webb.

    “Soldiers getting on the ground, delivering water and stacking sand bags is going to happen,” said Webb. “It's the communication piece that makes it happen. That's where we stumble and it takes time to happen.”

    The ultimate goal of the training exercise was to be prepared to support the citizen of North Carolina during a natural disaster.

    “We are Citizen-Soldiers, we are a customer of the citizen in every county we go to,” Webb said. “Us getting the proper communication lines established, will ensure the Soldier on the ground has everything he needs to do his job for those citizens.”

    Part of effectively training the team were injecting different scenarios into the training exercise, requiring the different organizations to jointly work together.

    “The real-world side of that is that it could totally happen, if people were told to evacuate and they don't and we have to send someone in after them,” Greene said.
    “Although a significant amount of the 30th's Soldiers are currently deployed overseas to Kosovo, the training and mission at home continues for those in the rear detachment.”

    “We are training now for real-world events,” said Webb. “We are dual-hatted, Citizen-Soldiers, with one boot overseas and one boot here.”

    Although the travel to the beach wasn’t relaxing, the Soldiers of the NCNG matured and created a created a strong relationship with their state partners.

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    NEWS INFO

    Date Taken: 09.14.2015
    Date Posted: 09.17.2015 12:00
    Story ID: 176383
    Location: KURE BEACH, NC, US

    Web Views: 179
    Downloads: 1

    PUBLIC DOMAIN