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PUERTO RICO – Three members of the New York Air National Guard’s 107th Attack Wing Emergency Management team participated in a multi-state training exercise hosted by the Puerto Rico Air National Guard, May 13–19.
The Deployment for Training event, coordinated by the 156th Civil Engineer Squadron, was held at Camp Santiago Joint Training Center in Salinas and Fort Allen in Juana Diaz.
According to a release from Puerto Rico Air National Guard Public Affairs, the exercise included units from the U.S. Virgin Islands, New York, New Jersey, South Carolina, Hawaii, Oklahoma, California, and Vermont.
The training featured combat-simulated scenarios designed to challenge emergency response capabilities in an austere environment. It took two years to plan and resulted in more than 120 hours of hands-on training, according to the release.
“The most difficult part was the heat and humidity, especially when wearing our heavy protective chemical gear,” said Senior Airman Vincenza Costanzo, a 107th Emergency Management journeyman from North Tonawanda, New York.
“My favorite part was the field training,” she added. “I got to experience different field conditions, sleep in tents, and participate in a lot of different scenarios. One group even got to ride in a Black Hawk—that was really cool to see.”
The 107th Attack Wing previously participated in a similar large-scale readiness event called Niagara Warrior at Niagara Falls Air Reserve Station in October 2024. That exercise required Airmen to respond to dynamic threats in a simulated contested environment, reinforcing the Agile Combat Employment, or ACE, concept.
According to Air Force doctrine, ACE is “a proactive and reactive operational scheme of maneuver executed within threat timelines to increase survivability while generating combat power.”
“Puerto Rico is a perfect location to train our Airmen for the future fight since it has similar geographical characteristics to the Indo-Pacific region,” said Senior Master Sgt. Paul Clementi, Emergency Management superintendent for the 107th Attack Wing, from Ridge, NY.
Clementi added that the training “focused on creating a different environment where emergency specialists could execute their CBRN (Chemical, Biological, Radiological, and Nuclear) mission by assembling into small teams and exerting leadership among the noncommissioned officers managing their exercise injects.”
Leaders from the host unit also highlighted the strategic value of the location and the realism of the training.
“The Caribbean’s resemblance to the Pacific region enhances our ability to prepare for operations in that theater,” said U.S. Air Force Col. Evaristo Orengo, commander of the 156th Wing, in the original article.
“The Puerto Rico Air National Guard provides a unique platform for Air National Guard units to conduct ACE-focused training and develop mission-ready Airmen, thanks to our strategic location and readily available facilities,” he said.
Some content in this article was originally published by Puerto Rico Air National Guard Public Affairs.
| Date Taken: | 06.03.2025 |
| Date Posted: | 06.03.2025 11:58 |
| Story ID: | 499518 |
| Location: | SALINAS, PR |
| Hometown: | NIAGARA FALLS INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT AIR RESERVE STATION, NEW YORK, US |
| Hometown: | NORTH TONAWANDA, NEW YORK, US |
| Hometown: | RIDGE, NEW YORK, US |
| Web Views: | 52 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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