NCNG Civil Support Team trains at PNC Arena

Photo By Sgt. 1st Class Mary Junell | Soldiers with the North Carolina National Guard’s 42nd Civil Support Team (42nd CST), walk down an interior hallway at the PNC Arena in Raleigh, North Carolina on Sept. 26, 2017 during a training exercise meant to keep the team proficient in their skills. The training also included Wake County Emergency Management and gave them an opportunity to see each other’s capabilities should they need to work together in the future. (Photo by Staff Sgt. Mary Junell)  

RALEIGH, NC, UNITED STATES

10.02.2017

Story by Staff Sgt. Mary Junell  

North Carolina National Guard

Soldiers with the 42nd Civil Support Team sprang into action the morning of September 26, 2017 in response to a call from Wake County Emergency Management that there were suspicious packages and a man caught with two bags of powder near the ventilation system at the PNC Arena in Raleigh, North Carolina.

Luckily, the call was part of a training scenario meant to keep the team proficient in their skills and gave Wake County Emergency Management an opportunity to understand the capabilities of the 42nd CST.

“Each of us on the team will take turns setting up a one or two day scenario for the rest of the team as a proficiency test for everything that we do,” said Staff Sgt. Jason, Warrick, a healthcare noncommissioned officer with the 42nd CST.

The team has a federal evaluation once about every 18 months. Between those events, they create their own test scenarios, not only to prepare for the evaluation, but to ensure they are ready for a real world event.

“Because we have the possibility of being called out on little or no notice, we have to make sure that we are constantly ready to perform at our highest level,” Warrick said. “The more you train and the more realistic you train, the better you’re going to perform. We see ourselves getting better over time.”

The endless training helps not only the team build their confidence, but also gives the agencies they work with confidence in the 42nd CST’s abilities.

“It’s very important for us,” said Darshan Patel, an emergency management specialist with Wake County Emergency Management. “It helps us understand what capabilities are there outside of our local area and it helps us to make sure we can work together, communicate together, and complete missions together before we actually have an event that happens in our area.”

Larry Perkins, the Vice President and Assistant General Manager of PNC Arena hopes that by having the 42nd CST train at the large venue, both the Soldiers and Arena staff will be better prepared should a real incident occur.

“The thing about having them out is that the more familiar you are with a facility, the better for us and for them,” Perkins said. “They don’t have to come out and worry about where things are, they are familiar with it and we are familiar with them. We know where to go and they know where to go and we know how to make decisions if something real happens. Our approach is to be proactive so the patrons don’t have to worry.”

The Soldiers of the CST plan most of their scenarios to involve other security, law enforcement and emergency services so they can get the most realistic training possible.

“Our job is to help and augment civil authorities for domestic purposes,” Warrick said. “We will almost never be the only ones there. We do a lot of interagency partnering with other law enforcement, EMS, fire and hazmat teams.”

All parties involved said the training helps build confidence in each other and their abilities, should the 42nd CST’s services be called upon.

• Date Taken: 10.02.2017
• Date Posted: 10.02.2017 16:11
• Story ID: 250282
• Location: RALEIGH, NC, US