Photo By Cpl. Thor Larson | 1st Lt. Bridgett Soares separates role players into U.S. citizens and foreign...... read more read more
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CAMP HANSEN, OKINAWA, Japan – A huge storm is approaching a country where several U.S. non-governmental organizations are providing much-needed services to the local populace. The locals can take shelter in their homes, but the members of the NGO have nowhere to seek refuge from the storm. Who can they turn to for help?
Enter the United States Marines.
The Marines and sailors with the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit conducted a simulated noncombatant evacuation operation Jan. 21 on Camp Hansen as part of Marine Expeditionary Unit Exercise II, a pre-deployment training exercise designed to prepare them for their upcoming spring deployment.
“Today, we were able to exercise our evacuation control center, Nightingale team, and our shock trauma platoon all in one exercise,” said Maj. Randy White, the operations officer for Combat Logistics Battalion 31, 31st MEU.
The ECC is made up of Marines from Military Police Detachment, CLB-31. They are used to process evacuees before bringing them out of any dangerous area, whether the danger comes from a natural disaster or terrorist activities.
The ECC Marines used a Biometric Enrollment Screening Device to process the U.S. citizens and get them out of the danger zone, according to 1st Lt. Bridgett Soares, the MP Detachment officer in charge. The BESD is used to take biometric data from evacuees and then send it through a database. The data can be used to verify an individual’s identity and find any links they may have with terrorist activities; handy information for Marines looking to process and evacuate large groups of people.
During the training there was also a planned mass casualty drill. Armed insurgents attacked and wounded several Marines and evacuees, necessitating that they be treated and evacuated as quickly as possible. The MEU responds to mass casualty situations with a quick reaction force known as ‘Nightingale.’ The Nightingale team is made up of Marines and Navy corpsmen that help to get the injured back to the CLB’s Shock Trauma Platoon.
The Nightingale team flew in on a CH-53E Super Stallion, and once on the ground they rushed to get the injured onto stretchers and back onto the helicopter.
“The Marines practice scenarios like this to help them with swift turnaround times,” said White, a Redlands, California, native. “The faster they move casualties to the shock trauma platoon, the less complications they have and the more people they can save.”
After the casualties were evacuated, the Marines finished processing the rest of the evacuees and prepared to take them to safety. As part of the scenario, the Marines would have taken the evacuees to the USS Bonhomme Richard (LHD 6), where they would stay until it is either safe to return where they came from or until they can get transportation back to the U.S.
“Today went very well the Marines were all prepared and they’ve been training for this for months now,” said Soares, a San Diego native. “We were able to get all evacuees through processing, off the deck and onto the ship. This exercise helps to prepare us for the future and it gives us an opportunity to actually execute a NEO.”
| Date Taken: | 01.21.2016 |
| Date Posted: | 01.27.2016 04:50 |
| Story ID: | 187100 |
| Location: | CAMP HANSEN, OKINAWA, JP |
| Hometown: | REDLANDS, CA, US |
| Hometown: | SAN DIEGO, CA, US |
| Web Views: | 820 |
| Downloads: | 1 |
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