JOINT BASE MCGUIRE-DIX-LAKEHURST, N.J. -- The New Jersey Office of Emergency Management, New Jersey Task Force One, FEMA and State Urban Search and Rescue Task Force recently conducted a full-scale search and rescue exercise on Joint Base MDL, April 21.
The Joint Base was chosen for the exercise due to its ability to host a wide variety of training scenarios through acres of ranges and state of the art battle labs.
“This is one of the best rubble piles on the east coast,” said Gene Walsh, exercise director. “We’re able to bring all of the agencies and the military in for the same exercise. The base is ideal for what we need.”
Despite the countless training amenities on MDL, OEM players utilized an urban environment to emphasize the realism of their training objectives of a simulated large improvised explosive device detonated in New Jersey, got the USAR teams right to work looking for survivors while NJ-TF1 set up a base camp and prepared to take over the scene.
“We can create whatever scenarios and complications we want to here,” said Lt. Ted Schafer, State Trooper. “Having the exercise behind security checkpoints is just another layer of realism the base provides.”