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JB MDL EM Airmen conduct chemical exercise downrange

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. Jacob Morgan
  • 380th Air Expeditionary Wing
Southwest Asia --  The 380th Expeditionary Civil Engineer Squadron Emergency Management Office conducted an exercise Sept. 20, 2013, aimed at further training their members on investigating and neutralizing a chemical threat.

The scenario was all-encompassing, starting with the report of a suspicious individual and ending with neutralizing the suspect's chemical laboratory. It involved a significant amount of chemical detection equipment and protective suits. On scene, EM personnel were graded on their response, documentation and removal of the threat from the area.

The exercise developer, U.S. Air Force Tech. Sgt. Robert Kelly, 380th ECES EM NCO in charge of logistics, said the exercises conducted are based on task qualification but also incorporate real world tactics, techniques and procedures.

"We try to do an exercise at least once a month," said Kelly. "From chemical labs to warning reporting of chemical, biological, radiological or nuclear attacks, we have to know how to respond to threats in the immediate area and coordinate with the entire (area of responsibility) to keep our members safe. This exercise was a response to a hostile threat involving hazardous materials, investigating the origin of the hazardous materials and then alleviating the threat."

The overall EM mission incorporates planning for emergencies, defending against them and executing or coordinating crisis response actions. By exercising each of these areas, EM personnel can help ensure the safety of the base and its personnel.

"The exercise developer has to get into the mind of the bad guys sometimes to make the exercise real," said Kelly. "But it's our plans and programs section that plays the largest role in getting operations back up and running."

The plans and programs section of EM runs the installation emergency management program and maintains the installation emergency plan, which provides a broad view of each unit's responsibility. Specifically, EM is responsible for helping to develop shelter-in-place programs, emergency procedures, and checklist that govern emergency response.

Different situations determine what checklist is accomplished. There is a plan for almost every possible emergency situation. From an active-shooter attack to a natural disaster, emergency management will coordinate and review every checklist from each unit.

"We have to make sure that in the event of an emergency, there are no hic-ups or issues; that each unit knows where they are supposed to be, what they are supposed to be doing and each piece of the puzzle comes together," said U.S. Air Force Staff Sgt. Joshua Holloman, 380th ECES EM craftsman. "This is especially difficult in a deployed environment where people have not necessarily worked together before and we rotate people more often than other bases. People never think it's a big deal until it happens to them."

While there may be challenges in making every emergency response perfect, the 380th ECES EM office keeps the 380th AEW safe and helps defend the base through planning, coordination and execution of these emergency responses procedures.

"The exercise was a culmination of planning and execution to mitigate a chemical threat," said Holloman, who calls Sumter, S.C., home and is deployed from Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, N.J. "We must know all threats, how to recover from them and keep the rest of the base informed."