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Coast Guard National Strike Force supports Super Bowl XLVIII

  • Published
  • By Lts. Annjea Cormier and Kristen Potter
  • U.S. Coast Guard Atlantic Strike Team
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. --  The U.S. Coast Guard's National Strike Force, spearheaded by the Atlantic Strike Team of Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, N.J., deployed as a part of a comprehensive port-security regime set up for protection and rapid-response operations during the events surrounding Super bowl XLVIII from Jan. 27, 2014, to Feb. 4, 2014, here.

The team partnered with other federal, state and local agencies to specifically ensure that they were prepared to offer the public the best support possible in the event of any hazardous material incident.

The Coast Guard's NSF, with members from the Atlantic, Pacific and Gulf Strike Teams, were staged and ready for immediate response in Northern N.J. The team supported both the Environmental Protection Agency and Coast Guard Sector N.Y. response efforts using their skills to mitigate any potential threats, specifically chemical, biological, radiological or nuclear threats.

The response supervisor for the mission, Chief Petty Officer Broko Boland said, "We are excited to support this multi-agency response and to have the opportunity to work with our counterparts to ensure a safe environment."

Utilizing advanced detection and monitoring equipment the NSF team is able to identify different sources of radiation in the area and determine whether the isotopes in the radiation are harmful or naturally occurring radioactive material. For a biological attack, the team's equipment is used to collect samples and conduct testing to see if there is any biological threat including organic compounds and airborne threats. In addition to incident response gear, the team also has personal protective equipment up to level-A, which protects team members from vapors and hazardous atmospheres. With this specific personal protective equipment, members were able to assist and decontaminate people with medical issues in areas affected by a potential CBRN attack.

"The National Strike Force ability to pull trained personnel and specialized equipment from all three Strike Teams is one of our greatest capabilities," said Lt. Cmdr. David J. Reinhard, Atlantic Strike Team executive officer. "It allows us to provide a significant surge capacity to our many customers like Sector New York, the EPA and other deployable specialized forces."

Planning for this high-profile security event has been ongoing for months and in preparation for the multi-agency build up to Super Bowl XLVIII, Federal Emergency Management Agency Region II hosted a hazardous-material response exercise with its joint local and federal partners. The event focused on a potential weapons-of-mass-destruction attack in a small area surrounding the Metlife stadium and the effects such an attack would have on the surrounding populace. The AST partnered with personnel from all over the tri-state area to conduct an exercise focusing on the capabilities each agency could bring to a WMD response and to jointly develop contingency plans in the event of such an event.

"The best part of this scenario was that personnel from the different agencies not normally accustomed to working together were able to meet, discuss plans, and develop contingencies strengthening interagency relations," said Lt. John LaMorte, one of the AST representatives at the exercise.

The NSF is one of many Coast Guard units who supported the event from around the country and were actively engaged with several other government agencies including EPA, FBI, New York Police Department Harbor, Fire Department of New York Marine, Jersey City Police Department and the U.S. Marshals Service.