Photo By Master Sgt. Mark Bell | Capt. Jeff Suarez, the Air Rescue Bureau Manager with the Miami-Dade Fire Rescue...... read more read more
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MIAMI – U.S. Army Reserve Soldiers, National Guard, Miami-Dade Fire Rescue Department, several local law enforcement agencies and PortMiami authorities partnered together to train for something each hope to never put into action.
Reserve Soldiers assigned to the Orlando-based 329th Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear (CBRN) Company (Reconnaissance and Surveillance), supported by the Army Reserve’s 469th Ground Ambulance Company from Wichita, Kansas, and the Florida National Guard’s Civil Support Team, were assigned the mission to mobilize and deploy to assess and/or mitigate a suspected weapon of mass destruction within the Miami port authority property during the training event held Feb. 18, 2017.
Miami is among America's busiest ports.
Both container and cruise ships come in and out of the port carrying thousands of shipping containers and more than 4 million passengers each year. The port is shadowed by dozens of skyscrapers in nearby downtown Miami and more than 5 million people who live in the surrounding area.
“I couldn’t think of a better training environment than one of the busiest ports,” said Lt. Alvarao Tonanez, the HAZMAT lead trainer for one of the largest fire departments in America, with more than 3,000 personnel assigned to MDFRD. “To put our firefighters and the Army Reserve unit into a realistic scenario where we could use the assistance in a real-world situation is a win-win for both sides.”
Sponsored by Department of Defense’s U.S. Northern Command and hosted by the MDFRD, the hazardous material exercise was the second joint-training event between a large municipality and the Defense CBRN Force, according to Thomas Frankhouser, a senior survey analyst with U.S. Army North, based at Fort Sam Houston, Texas.
Established in 2002, USNORTHCOM’s mission is to command and control DoD homeland defense efforts and to coordinate defense support of civil authorities. USNORTHCOM is based at Peterson Air Force Base, Colorado.
Frankhouser and other ARNORTH staff spent months planning the exercise with the MDFRD staff to ensure the best training opportunity for all organizations involved. During the event, ARNORTH Observers, Coach/Trainers closely watched unit personnel as they integrated into the training and provided guidance for Soldiers and civil authorities.
Frankhouser said, when needed, the 329th CBRN Company can assist civilian responders at a scene and provide capabilities that may not be available for the civilian incident commander. Like local fire departments and HAZMAT teams, the 329th CBRN Company has the capability to identify and analyze certain toxic chemicals and materials with advanced equipment and can provide that critical support to an incident commander.
Aside from the hands-on training, Frankhouser said the important take away from the training exercise was simply to build relationships.
He said one of the goals of these types of joint training events is to ensure local responders and the Army Reserve Soldiers understand each other’s responsibilities during an emergency or catastrophic incident. When the time comes to combine resources in a real-world event, both organizations already have those established connections and common language to be successful
“We build relationships prior to an incident in preparation for an incident to make sure that understanding is across the board,” he said.
Col. Mike Vail, Chief, Homeland Operations Division for the Army Reserve, said the 329th CBRN Company is currently one of two Army Reserve units supporting the Defense CBRN Response Force for the CBRN Response Enterprise.
The DCRF mission is to save lives, mitigate human suffering and facilitate recovery operations in a CBRN environment. More than 5,200 Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen, Marines and civilians from active-duty and reserve component units make up the scalable force which can respond to local, state, tribal or federal agencies to support efforts in the event of a CBRN incident.
Vail said the key component for a successful response to a disaster or emergency is developing partnerships with civil authorities, first responders and the National Guard.
“As a Federal Response Partner, the Army Reserve seeks training events with local, state and federal agencies to better hone our skills and to further develop symbiotic training relationships,” he said.
During the training exercise, Army Reserve Soldiers worked side-by-side MDFRD firefighters to provide joint reconnaissance operations on a suspected weapon of mass destruction. Vail said after the training, he hoped Miami civil authorities understand the unique capabilities the Army Reserve can provide to assist in the event of a catastrophic incident or accident that overwhelms local and state assets.
Most importantly, Vail said he hoped both the Army Reserve Soldiers and MDFRD personnel walked away with a better understanding of each other’s mission and capabilities to provide an enhanced partnership during an actual disaster or accident.
“We also seek to learn from each other so we may improve our emergency response tactics, techniques and procedures,” he said.
Tonanez spent the day before training Soldiers with the tools and techniques his team would use in a maritime HAZMAT emergency.
“We want both the Soldiers and our firefighters to benefit from the training,” he said. “We both have something in common. We serve the communities we live in and protect those in need during an emergency or incident where lives are in danger.”
Whether training in Miami or deploying in harm’s way to Afghanistan or Iraq, the Army Reserve’s nearly 200,000 Soldiers are working around the world in 20 time zones. LTG Charles D. Luckey, U.S. Army Reserve Command commanding general, said, "The sun never sets on America's Army Reserve."
The six time zones covering the United States are especially important to the Army Reserve as citizen Soldiers have a critical role in protecting America’s homeland.
USARC can provide specialized units and trained Soldiers who rapidly deploy or respond to incidents and assist in search and extraction, decontamination, aviation, engineering, logistics and emergency response capabilities.
Brig. Gen. Alberto Rosende, Commanding General of the 1st Mission Support Command, based at Fort Buchanan, Puerto Rico, spent part of the day watching the training. Although none of his Soldiers were participating in the exercise, Rosende, who lives in the Miami area, said he wanted to spend his weekend with Soldiers.
“When I heard of this training going on in Miami, I had to come see the Army Reserve Soldiers in my own backyard,” he said. “Who wouldn’t want to be here?”
Rosende said municipality-integrated training is the benchmark for training excellence in the Army Reserve.
“We must be able to integrate with local responders and deliver our capability,” he said. “In this scenario, we are providing a capability they need and want. At the end of the day, if we can’t integrate with our local partners, we can’t operate.”
Rosende said this exercise was a unique opportunity to match both Soldiers and first responders’ capabilities to meet a common objective.
“It multiplies the effect you are putting out there,” he said. “The fact that we are able to do that successfully, we are helping our communities. That’s just amazing.”
He said commanders must continue to pursue opportunities with local first responders in their own communities or surrounding areas. Most importantly, he said it gives America’s Army Reserve young leaders an opportunity to excel and make a difference in their units and communities around the country.
“These young Soldiers are specialists and sergeants doing the work here,” he said. “These are not senior noncommissioned officers or officers integrating with first responders. Most important to remember is that our young Soldiers understand the spirit of collaboration. At the end of the day, it’s going to benefit the communities we serve.”
| Date Taken: | 02.18.2017 |
| Date Posted: | 02.19.2017 23:06 |
| Story ID: | 224083 |
| Location: | MIAMI, FL, US |
| Web Views: | 396 |
| Downloads: | 4 |
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