Photo By 1st Lt. Anna Doo | Members of New Mexico National Guard’s 919th Military Police Company participated in...... read more read more
FARMINGTON, N.M. - Members of New Mexico National Guard’s 919th Military Police Company participated in the San Juan County Emergency Management Exercise here Sept. 19, 2015. The company was split into two response teams, each receiving a different mission from the Emergency Operations Center (EOC). The annual exercise aims to create realistic training scenarios where multiple agencies are forced to respond, successfully communicate and identify areas of improvement.
The exercise took place at the Four Corners Regional Airport, San Juan College West, Navajo Prep and the San Juan Regional Medical Center. Participating agencies included PRAXAIR, San Juan County Office of Emergency Management, San Juan County Sheriff’s Office, San Juan County Fire Department, San Juan County Communication Authority, San Juan Regional EMS, City of Farmington, Farmington Police Department, Farmington Fire Department, New Mexico National Guard, New Mexico State Police, San Juan College, San Juan Regional Medical Center, Navajo Prep High School, Four Corners Regional Airport and the Red Cross.
The scenario began when suspects crashed a vehicle into the gate at the airport with the intention of blowing up a tanker. The suspects fled to Navajo Prep High School. When the call was placed to the New Mexico National Guard that a suspect was possibly holding students at Navajo Prep hostage, the 919th MPs responded immediately. They quickly loaded up into their vehicles and safely navigated the city streets from the Farmington Readiness Center to the academy. Upon arrival, the MPs split into teams to secure the surrounding area and penetrate the building where the suspects were believed to be holed up. Methodically covering every nook, cranny, door, stairway and closet, the military police professionals found one of the two suspects. Due to the direction by the EOC, and the fact that all other civilian law enforcement professionals were on site at the airport responding to the initial incident, the MPs apprehended and detained the individual until they were able to hand him over to the local police.
Almost simultaneously, the second group of Soldiers from the 919th were called to respond to a vehicle that had rammed into a PRAXAIR tanker truck. Two individuals were said to have fled the scene of that crash in the parking lot of San Juan College West toward the adjacent PRAXAIR liquid nitrogen processing plant with the intent of causing even greater harm. Farmington Fire Department professionals arrived on scene and called for additional assistance. That call went through the county wide EOC and again, due to all other personnel being at the airport and the San Juan Regional Medical Center, the Guard was called upon to respond.
Staff Sgt. Anthony Brewster, the leader of the second group, immediately assessed the scene upon the arrival of the MPs. He asked the Incident Commander numerous questions, gathering intelligence about the scene, the vehicle, the suspects and more. He spoke with the firefighters who had remained on site to ensure no other damage occurred. Brewster and Spc. Daniel Chesser investigated the scene of the crash and gathered evidence to identify where the remaining suspects may have fled. Their deduced intent was to cause a large scale incident at the neighboring liquid nitrogen plant. The team then drove to that location and amidst the processing plant, enormous holding tanks, sirens and alarms adding to the cacophony of ambient noise, were able to apprehend both remaining suspects peacefully.
Chesser, who is employed with the Farmington Sheriff’s Department, commented that the exercise is as close as all the agencies can get to training together without live rounds.
“You can’t be afraid to ask questions. Even with people being on scene five minutes prior to you, it’s amazing what people see and they don’t think about bringing up; so all you have to do is ask questions,” he said.
Chesser went on to identify the benefits of the multi-agency exercise.
“It is great to be able to get out there and put a face to the name of the local Fire Department, Sheriff’s Department, Farmington PD; in turn they are actually able to see the faces of the 919th,” he said. “We can work together. We can click. By asking them questions [during this training] they know the kind of stuff that we would expect so everything doesn’t have to be thrown at you on scene. They can already offer tips of ‘hey, this might be useful for you guys.’”
This is a large part of the reason the San Juan County Office of Emergency Management hosts these exercises. According to the press release sent by their office alerting residents to the training, Don Cooper, San Juan County Emergency Manager, is quoted as saying, “It is important for the county to participate in exercises such as these. It not only helps us to prepare for what to do in the event of a real emergency, but it also provides another avenue for various agencies in San Juan County to train together and continue building stronger relationships.”
Suspects apprehended, all simulated injuries addressed, future plots potentially thwarted and communication across all the agencies wrapped up a day’s work for the participants. During an after action review, each of the evaluators had nothing but praise for the agencies, the participants and the support received throughout the planning and execution of the exercise. Even minor glitches were able to be identified, and quickly resolved, serving to strengthen the ability to respond should a real-world disaster strike the four corners region.
Additional photographs can be viewed at https://www.flickr.com/gp/nmngpao/F8R3s2
| Date Taken: | 09.19.2015 |
| Date Posted: | 09.21.2015 17:27 |
| Story ID: | 176780 |
| Location: | FARMINGTON, NEW MEXICO, US |
| Web Views: | 320 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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