BUTLERVILLE, Ind. - Indiana is not typically thought of as the site of movie effects, but for the next 20 days more than 5,200 Soldiers, Department of Defense civilians and local first-responders will conduct the annual Guardian Response training exercise at various sites to assist the Defense Support of Civil Authorities (DSCA) in the event of a Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear (CBRN).
Soldiers in the training areas conduct missions involving radiological surveys, search and extraction, mass casualty decontamination and more.
To enhance the realism of the training, special effects and precise injury make up is applied to more than more 300 mannequins and 200 live civilian role players. The technique, called moulage, is the method of applying detailed patient causality scenarios with actual medical knowledge and trained artistic abilities.
A two-day class is taught to U.S. Army Reserve Soldiers, many of which have no direct experience with moulage or medical training, on applying makeup and gel effects. Before employing those techniques on mannequins and civilians, Skip Dionne, a medical physicist, is on hand to guide Soldiers through the training and look over the mannequins before they are placed in the training areas.
At last year’s exercise, an Army Reserve mortuary affairs unit from Puerto Rico conducted moulage, but due to the hurricane situation at their home station this year, they were unable to attend.
“The Soldiers that we have now are non-medical, but they are catching on to how the wounds look, how to build them and the training is going well considering the short amount of time we have to train,” said class instructor Aimee Carrington, RTS Medical, Ft. McCoy, Wis.
Some of the wounds that are created with moulage include fractures, burns, lacerations, bruising, and rashes. The techniques involved vary in application methods but are mostly created using makeup, food-based gel effects, air brush, and even clay.
Some Soldiers are participating in moulage at the GR exercise, a second year in a row, including 2nd Lt. Sierra McRae from the 2nd Battalion, 311th Regiment based in Ft. Bragg, N.C.
“The training is good for everyone now because you never know where we’ll be needed, so it’s all about the Army’s demand,” said McRae.
Day and night shifts work diligently to apply moulage to support the demand of training, but it does take a lot of time. Each shift handles about 50 mannequins and 100 civilians per day.
“We’re trying to give the (Soldiers) that are coming to train a realistic idea of what it would be like if it was real,” said Sgt. Bridget Debow, assigned to the 2-311th. “It’s fun but at the same time, it’s hard work.”