VR 16 enters second week

Photo By Sgt. Cody Quinn | Department of Defense personnel react to a simulated nuclear detonation in Pittsburgh during Vibrant Response 2016 at Camp Atterbury, Indiana, May 10, 2016. The annual exercise prepares military and civilian emergency response personnel to react to a national emergency. (U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Cody Quinn/28th Public Affairs Detachment)  

CAMP ATTERBURY, IN, UNITED STATES

05.11.2016

Story by Sgt. Cody Quinn 

28th Public Affairs Detachment

Soldiers gathered at Camp Atterbury, Indiana to kickoff the second week of Vibrant Response 16, an annual exercise that prepares military and civilian emergency response personnel to react to a national emergency, May 8-15.
“We are beginning operations. This is the second iteration of Operation Vibrant Response 2016. We’ll be executing an operations order and delivering it to our subordinate task forces,” said Maj. Gen. David C. Wood, commander of the 38th Infantry Division, Indiana National Guard.
Vibrant Response 16 tests the ability of the U.S. emergency response network to react to a 10-kiloton nuclear bomb detonation. The scenario was acted out in real time and required personnel to demonstrate their abilities in all parts of a potential emergency.
“This exercise is very important,” Wood said. “This is the second year in a row that we’ve been assigned to Command and Control Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear Response Element.”
“We are acting as first responders in case of a major CBRN event in the United States,” he said.
Roles assigned to the subordinate units included finding and distributing supplies, search and rescue operations, information distribution and logistic operations during the weeklong exercise.
"We're learning a lot about how to deal with a real world crisis scenario,” said Sgt. Josh Coleman, an Omaha native and chemical operations specialist with the Nebraska National Guard. “We're getting an opportunity to interact and communicate with our counterparts in different branches and services.”
Members of the Army, Marines, Air Force, Navy and various state National Guards and Army Reserves set up operations in a barren simulation center during the exercise.
They were tasked with setting up a workspace from scratch and organizing their personnel to accomplish their mission.
“We are required to be on station 96 hours into the event,” Wood said. “Our primary mission is to save lives and alleviate suffering.”
The end state of the exercise is to certify the Task Forces’ ability to respond to a national emergency at the conclusion of the exercise.
“It is a different kind of mission than fighting in Iraq or Afghanistan,” Wood said. “We want to continue to improve our staff processes and get better so we can support our subordinate brigades and support our higher headquarters.”

• Date Taken: 05.11.2016
• Date Posted: 05.11.2016 14:16
• Story ID: 197889
• Location: CAMP ATTERBURY, IN, US
• Hometown: OMAHA, NE, US