Photo By Capt. Kiara Spann | The South Carolina Urban Search and Rescue Task Force 1 and the South Carolina Army...... read more read more
COMBAT READINESS TRAINING CENTER, GULFPORT, Miss. – A unique combination of civilian search and rescuers with Army National Guard aviators came together Jan. 29 to exercise ground and elevated rescue hoists as the National Guard’s PATRIOT South Exercise kicked off in the Gulfport, Miss., area.
The South Carolina Helicopter Aquatic Rescue Team trained in collaboration with the 2-151 Security and Support Aviation Battalion’s UH-72A Lakotas from the South Carolina Army National Guard at the Port Bienville Industrial Complex, Port Bienville, Miss. All told more than 30 members of SC-HART participated in the training.
SC-HART is a civilian-military partnership comprised of the South Carolina Urban Search and Rescue Task Force 1 and the South Carolina Army National Guard. The civilian members of the SC-TF1 are an all-volunteer force who maintains rigorous technical certifications in areas like ground, confined space, and swift water rescues. SC-TF1 members took leave from their jobs to continue their search and rescue training in coordination with the PATRIOT South Exercise.
This hybrid team of military and civilian members who specialize in aviation rescue, arrived at the Combat Readiness and Training Center in Gulfport, Miss., to participate in the PATRIOT South Exercise, a domestic operations training exercise sponsored by the National Guard Bureau to provide a forum for coordination with local, state, and federal civilian organizations.
The training focused on using the UH-72A Lakota, a lightweight, adaptable utility helicopter, during search and rescue missions. Participants simulated ground and elevated search and rescue missions by hoisting a team member to safety.
The SC-TF1 and South Carolina Army National Guard train together at least four times a year, said Ken Kerber, assistant state fire marshal of South Carolina and rescue team lead of SC-HART.
The UH-72A Lakota was introduced to the SC-HART program before, however, the aircraft had hoisting issues that rendered it incapable to complete the mission set out by SC-HART, which did not allow the aircraft to successfully be integrated in the program originally.
“This training exercise is the start of their (UH-72A Lakota) reintegration” said Chief Warrant Officer 4 David Sean Reynolds, battalion standardization pilot with the S.C. National Guard and program manager for SC-HART. “This training exercise has a high probability of continuing through the next training iteration.”
Reynolds has been affiliated with SC-HART since 2009.
The SC-TF1 and the South Carolina Army National Guard previously only uses the UH-60L Black Hawk during aviation rescue missions, but this exercise will lay the groundwork necessary to expand aircraft available for SAR operations.
“The South Carolina Army National Guard is half of the program with the aviation assets of both the Blackhawks and Lakotas,” said Reynolds. “The other half is the rescue team that we put down in precarious situations and save the people that need to be rescued. Working together we have formed a capability that cannot be had by anyone else in the state.”
Some states have the benefit of having helicopter civilian rescue assets to perform rescue missions, said Reynolds, but to states that do not have that benefit, this program could be very important.
PATRIOT South is a domestic operations disaster-response training exercise conducted by National Guard units working in support of federal, state, and local emergency management agencies, and first responders. The one-week exercise is focused on the Combat Readiness Training Center, Camp Shelby, and surrounding areas of Gulfport, Miss. This is the first time the PATRIOT exercise has occurred in Mississippi and more than 500 members of the National Guard, consisting of Soldiers and Airmen, will be participating along with local first responders, emergency management agencies, and relief organizations.
| Date Taken: | 02.01.2017 |
| Date Posted: | 02.01.2017 22:02 |
| Story ID: | 222233 |
| Location: | GULFPORT, MS, US |
| Web Views: | 298 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, URBAN SEARCH AND RESCUE, SC GUARD TEAM UP TO PRACTICE DURING PATRIOT SOUTH EXERCISE, by Capt. Kiara Spann, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
No keywords found.
LEAVE A COMMENT