Courtesy Photo | A UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter from the Pennsylvania National Guard’s 28th...... read more read more
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PHILADELPHIA – Pennsylvania National Guard members joined numerous military and civil agencies for a large-scale Dense Urban Terrain exercise recently in Philadelphia.
The exercise, which ran from July 25 to 29, was conducted by Task Force 46, a 600-personnel chemical, biological, radiological or nuclear (CBRN) response element, comprised of National Guard units from states across the country.
The exercise continued a series of planning and execution exercises designed to coordinate and rehearse emergency response actions in the event of a CBRN attack in a dense urban environment.
Other participating organizations included the Philadelphia Office of Emergency Management, the Philadelphia fire and police departments, and other local, county, state, federal, international (Canadian and British), academic and civilian partners.
Approximately 24 Soldiers utilizing four aircraft from the Pennsylvania National Guard’s 28th Expeditionary Combat Aviation Brigade participated in the exercise. They flew 11 missions with over 20 hours of flight time to include hoist training, patient transport and movement of search-and-rescue teams and senior leaders. They also stood up a tactical command post to manage all operations.
“The 28th ECAB greatly benefited from this training opportunity, and we stand more ready to support the commonwealth because of the lessons learned and iterations executed,” said Maj. Kandy Heekin, 28th ECAB operations officer, who gave a presentation about the Pennsylvania National Guard’s aviation capabilities.
Also participating in the exercise from the Pennsylvania National Guard were:
• Brig. Gen. Terrence Koudelka, director of the joint staff, who provided remarks alongside other city and military leadership during an academics session.
• Brig. Gen. James McCormack, assistant adjutant general, who observed training and participated in a senior leader forum, where ideas on disaster response were exchanged.
• Col. Frank Montgomery, director of military support, who participated in a panel discussion with Philadelphia OEM, fire and police departments, PEMA, FEMA and the FEMA Region III Defense Coordinating Officer regarding federal mission assignments.
The DUT series of exercises began in 2018 and has become one of the Nation’s premier all-hazard and homeland defense exercises designed to enhance interagency interoperability in the event of “America’s worst day.”
| Date Taken: | 07.29.2022 |
| Date Posted: | 07.29.2022 15:21 |
| Story ID: | 426137 |
| Location: | PHILADELPHIA, PA, US |
| Web Views: | 122 |
| Downloads: | 1 |
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