Photo By Ann Fox | Nuclear Weapons Accident/Incident Exercise 13 (NUWAIX 13) participants take part in...... read more read more
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MALMSTROM Air Force Base, Mont. - Imagine that a U.S. nuclear launch facility is attacked by a domestic terrorist organization with transnational connections and the assistance of an insider.
This was the scenario for NUWAIX 13 or Nuclear Weapons Accident/Incident Exercise, a full scale regional incident response exercise, executed at Malmstrom Air Force Base in May.
The goal of NUWAIX 13 was to enhance major commands’ and installation’s ability to respond to, and mitigate the consequences of an attack involving a U.S. nuclear weapon in the Continental U.S., to build upon existing relationships between federal, state and local response communities, and to refine expertise across the entire response spectrum.
Serving as the U.S. Department of Defense executive agent to plan nuclear weapon accident and incident exercises and link them to other national-level exercises, DTRA worked side-by-side with participants and observers from DOD, Office of the Director of National Intelligence, U.S. Department of Energy, U.S. Department of Homeland Security, FBI, Montana National Guard, state of Montana Emergency Services and Utah National Guard to execute the exercise objectives.
"The exercise participants tackled the most complex weapons incident exercise that DTRA has ever conducted - and they did extremely well,” said Exercise Director Brig. Gen. Michael Fortney, Director of Operations and Nuclear Support, DTRA J3/J7. “The partnership and professionalism demonstrated by these players during the yearlong planning and subsequent high-tempo execution of the exercise was a model of teamwork and cooperation - exactly what is needed when responding to these types events. Not only did we learn some valuable lessons to refine our procedures, but we gained a strong confidence that this team is ready to tackle any accident or incident at any time, however remote the chance of such an event occurring.”
DTRA personnel established and maintained effective command, control and communications throughout the event and managed the timely and coordinated release of information among the interagency, the public and the news media.
Of this effort, Brig. Gen. Fortney said, “I'm particularly proud of the DTRA team that planned and executed this exercise, integrating and managing 1,500 participants from several agencies and three remote operating/exercise locations across Montana. Our lead, Lt. Col. Corey Brunson, and his team did an incredible
job. DTRA’s motto is ‘Making the World Safer,’ and I guarantee that our world is a bit safer today because of the superb exercise this team developed and executed in Montana."
Col. Rob Stanley, commander of the 341st Missile Wing (MW) at Malmstrom AFB said, “Members of the 341st MW want to offer a warm 'Thank You' to all the members of the DTRA NUWAIX 13 team. The exercise gave Malmstrom another opportunity to excel at what we do best - earn, gain and keep the trust of the American people, and the fear and respect of our country's adversaries. It also gave us a chance to work with all our federal, state and local partners to prove once again that we really are a team at 'Wing One!'"
| Date Taken: | 05.21.2013 |
| Date Posted: | 06.07.2013 15:35 |
| Story ID: | 108293 |
| Location: | MALMSTROM AIR FORCE BASE, MONTANA, US |
| Web Views: | 1,276 |
| Downloads: | 1 |
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