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JOINT BASE LANGLEY-EUSTIS, Va. — U.S. service members from Joint Base Langley-Eustis, Virginia, partnered with local Hampton Roads emergency responders to participate in a downed aircraft crash exercise in Hampton, Virginia, March 10-11, 2016.
During the two-day exercise, Langley Air Force Base and Hampton emergency personnel responded to a simulated F-22 Raptor crash, where they executed procedures from first response checklists and a search and rescue mission designed to help not only the base, but Hampton responders prepare for a real-world mishap.
“We are hoping that it never happens, but we have planes that fly over all the time, so it is a general concern with the general populous [that this situation could occur],” said Lee Affholter, Thomas Nelson Community College safety officer and fire inspector. “Anything we can do to make us better prepared, that’s what we are looking to do.”
More than 200 personnel participated in the exercise, including members of the 633rd Air Base Wing Inspector General office, the 633rd ABW, 1st and 192nd Fighter Wings, Sentara Healthcare Center and Hampton Police Division and Division of Fire and Rescue.
The overall purpose of the exercise was for both the military and civilian responders to work together as if it were a real-world situation, look over plans and checklists and point out discrepancies said Neale Cummings, JBLE exercise program manager.
“We were trying to make it as realistic as possible but at the same time fill certain key objectives and training requirements that benefit everyone,” said Cummings. “[We also wanted to] ensure that our mission partners along with JBLE, can communicate together and that we can set the scene back to the way it was before it happened.”
After the first day of the exercise concluded, the 633rd Force Support Squadron began the second portion of the exercise, hosted at Langley Air Force Base’s Raptor Town. The JBLE Search and Rescue team simulated sweeping the TNCC parking lot for remains and debris from the wreckage.
The search and rescue portion of the exercise is designed to train Airmen on the proper procedures that need to be taken when recovering remains or debris if an incident were to occur.
According to Staff Sgt. Vertolya Reddick, 633rd Force Support Squadron search and rescue team lead, this half of the training was to see how well the search and rescue team would respond to a crisis or an accident on scene.
“You get anxious, you don’t know what you are going to go out there and see,” said Reddick. “[In the] real world it would be a fallen Airman and our job is to collect all we can and bring it back home to their families.”
After the two-day exercise, Reddick felt that it went well, stating that they learned a lot from the exercise and felt as though it improved their knowledge of what could happen in a real-world situation.
| Date Taken: | 03.10.2016 |
| Date Posted: | 03.16.2016 14:22 |
| Story ID: | 192594 |
| Location: | LANGLEY AIR FORCE BASE, VA, US |
| Web Views: | 48 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, JBLE and Hampton participate in aircraft crash exercise, by TSgt Brittany Murphy, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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