Courtesy Photo | Soldiers from the Hawaii National Guard’s 93rd Civil Support Team and the 94th CST...... read more read more
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GUAM -- In the early morning hours of Aug. 24, long before the sun had shown any signs of rising and the intense Guam heat had set in, the Hawaii National Guard’s 93rd Civil Support Team furiously set up their equipment alongside the 94th CST from Guam.
As part of Vigilant Guard Guam, the 94th CST had responded early on Aug. 23, to reports from civilian agencies that a terrorist cell had set up chemical, biological, radiological and explosive weapons shops.
“The local SWAT team conducted a raid,” said Maj. Mike Tougher, commander of the 94th CST, “and during that raid, they identified certain lab processes and hazardous materials that we needed to come assess and identify as such.”
Hawaii arrived to relieve the 94th and continue to support the local authorities.
During this transfer of authority, the incoming team must meet with their respective counterparts, learn the details of what has already been accomplished, and decide on the next steps. The initial response team then packs up and leaves the new response team to continue the mission.
Tougher said that as a training scenario is very realistic.
“The contractors that put together the scenarios really know what they’re doing,” he said. “And they don’t play ‘stump the chump,’ which means a lot to us because we’re gaining the most knowledge we can from the scenarios.”
CST teams began about 10 years ago as the concern of the threat of weapons of mass destruction grew, and one team was placed in each of the 10 FEMA regions.
Over the years, they have grown to 57 teams across the 54 states and territories, and they have increased the homeland defense capabilities against WMDs.
Tougher said the hands-on training helps the Guam CST learn, but also their interaction with other CSTs, including the 93rd CST from Hawaii, the 92nd CST from Nevada, the 103rd CST from Alaska and the 5th CST from Illinois.
“We’re always looking for opportunities to spend time with one another and share training and equipment,” he said.
Staff Sgt. Nicholas Clementz of Illinois’ 5th CST said the biggest challenge in combining teams is the communication differences. "But today everything is going [real] seamlessly,” he said. “The overall team unity is great and communication between teammates is excellent.”
The challenges certainly did not over-shadow the benefits for the Guardsmen participating in the exercise.
"There are many benefits to training with CSTs from other states and territories," said Staff Sgt. David W. Vossler of Wyoming’s 84th CST. "We get to see how different teams work, [the] different learning styles, and different ways of completing the mission."
"The greatest gain from a multi-team training exercise like Vigilant Guard, is that it allows us to establish and strengthen bonds and relationships," said Capt. Joseph C. Connelley, the operations commander for the 94th CST.
"The Soldiers become familiar with their counterparts that do the same job on a different team. And when they work together like this, they are able to share knowledge.”
Staff Sgt. Juan Villa of Illinois’ 5th CST said he believes the greatest benefit is getting to know the other team members, “and training together, we can reach much higher capabilities."
Vigilant Guard Guam also allowed the 93rd CST to test some new equipment.
“One of our objectives was to exercise some new equipment that we received and fielded,” said Army Lt. Col. Joe Laurel, commander of the 93rd CST. “These new pieces were meant to enhance already existing capabilities, such as radiation detection and how we manage information during an exercise.
“We get a lot of cutting edge equipment, and we embrace innovation, and we try to be one of the first CSTs to get new equipment to figure out how it works before it’s fielded to the rest of the CST units,” he said.
Laurel said the Guam Guard is an excellent host for the CSTs from outside of the region, and “whenever you can get five CSTs training together, it’s a good thing.”
| Date Taken: | 08.24.2010 |
| Date Posted: | 08.26.2010 14:48 |
| Story ID: | 55212 |
| Location: | GU |
| Web Views: | 151 |
| Downloads: | 3 |
This work, Civil Support Teams train jointly in Vigilant Guard exercise, by SFC Darron Salzer, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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