JOINT BASE MCGUIRE-DIX-LAKEHURST, N.J. -- -- Members of the Joint Base Emergency Management and Inspector General offices teamed up to host an ability to survive and operate training session here Feb. 7 – 9.
The ATSO Rodeo was focused on individual protective and operational actions meant to prepare MDL members for an upcoming exercise later this spring. Airmen in the class trained on different levels of Mission Oriented Protective Posture, or M.O.P.P, and how to function while wearing gas masks and other over garments.
“The training is set up to test [the student’s] skills for working in contaminated environments,” said Senior Master Sgt. Shannon Lynch, JB MDL Emergency Management superintendent. “We’re training them on zone transition, contamination avoidance, decontamination lines and how to drinking from a canteen while wearing the masks.”
Training instructors treated each simulated scenario as real world, giving nine seconds for students to don their gas masks, and then two minutes for them to check their wingmen’s M.O.P.P gear. Instructors stressed the sense of urgency and attention to detail that is crucial when dealing with actual chemical weapons and material.
“This training relies on the buddy system,” Lynch said. “It’s essential whenever you’re in a deployed environment or contaminated areas.”
For the instructors, being able to watch the students work and train makes it easier to fix mistakes and help explain the proper procedures, as well as answer any questions they may have, explained Airman 1st Class Sarah Mock, JB MDL Emergency Management.
“I think this is the best type of training,” Mock said. “We do offer classroom setting trainings, but I enjoy this hands-on style because I think people get a lot more out of it.”
For Emergency Management, this training is not just another box to check off for annual exercises, but a crucial piece in assuring Airmen’s readiness in deployed environments.
“The threat level may be low here, but there are medium and high threat levels when you deploy and the Airmen need to know how to use and function in this gear,” Lynch said. “The threat is out there for contamination.”