Photo By Sgt. Brian Johnson | Members of the Chillicothe-based 1194th Engineer Company Search and Extraction Team...... read more read more
RICKENBACKER AIR NATIONAL GUARD BASE, Ohio — If a train containing hazardous materials derailed in Columbus, a building collapsed in Cleveland, or a natural catastrophe brought Cincinnati to its knees and local emergency agencies were unable to handle the situation, who would they call for additional assistance?
More than 200 members of the Ohio National Guard’s Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear and high-yield Explosive (CBRNE) Enhanced Response Force Package (CERFP) participated March 12-14 in a disaster exercise at this base near Columbus.
The CERFP is comprised of four elements—command and control, search and extraction, decontamination and medical. The Columbus-based 73rd Troop Command is responsible for command and control, the Chillicothe-based 1194th Engineer Company is responsible for search and extraction, the Kettering-based 637th Chemical Company is the decontamination element and the Columbus-based 121st Medical Group along with Airmen from the 178th MDG, Springfield, 179th MDG, Mansfield, and 180th MDG, Toledo, comprise the medical element.
Search and extraction team Commander 1st Lt. Travis Ressler of Columbus said these types of practice exercises ensure the team is as ready as possible for a real event by spotting deficiencies and improving procedures.
“An exercise like this allows for outside observation of the capabilities of the CERFP,” Ressler said. “It also allows the command the ability to ‘wargame’ and control errors before a real-world situation occurs and allows Soldiers to explore and test their capabilities.”
The search and extraction team was tested on several measures including rope rescues from confined spaces, shoring the walls of collapsed buildings and rescuing causalities from a catastrophic situation.
“We had a near flawless performance,” Ressler said. “Our high standards were met and exceeded. This was a simulation of a real-life event and the Soldiers treated it like an actual event. This allowed us to fine tune our TTP — tactics, techniques and procedures. We were able to see what we needed to tweak in order for our unit to perform flawlessly in the future.”
Staff Sgt. Stacey Carman of Hillsboro said she felt the exercise was extremely beneficial because a lot of new unit members were assigned to teams that were recently organized.
“It had been a few months since many of us had a chance to focus solely on this mission and not our regular Soldier missions,” she said. “We had to learn to adapt to the changes and sometimes learn new skills.”
More experienced team members taught classes on many of the regular search and extraction tasks.
“We helped make sure that people who were experts in ropes, knot-tying, breaching and breaking and other tasks were able to cross-train other Soldiers to make sure that they knew how to do these tasks also,” Carman said. “When the Soldier gets to the RIG [Response International Group] training school that formally trains them, they will be able to walk in and be way ahead of everyone else.”
Carman was instrumental in planning and helping ensure the exercise’s success. She was responsible for helping to get the confined space training trailer from Ohio University’s Chillicothe branch to use for the duration of the exercise. The trailer simulates a collapsed building, allowing emergency personnel to train on being lowered into a hole and crawling through small areas to rescue victims.
Pfc. Theo Venable of Columbus, a recent addition to the S and E team, said he prepared himself mentally for the exercise so he wouldn’t be caught off guard. He enjoyed the busy pace and the chance to do things he had never done before.
“I got to use a rock drill, which was fun,” he said. “The breach and break mission that we had was extremely cool. I really enjoyed this. This whole mission gave me an idea of what FEMA and other government agencies do in the event of a major disaster.”
Ressler said the exercise was the third such event for the CERFP in the past 12 months. They allow the troops to envision how their skills can be put to use in a variety of situations.
“Exercises like this help to ensure mission buy-in from Soldiers,” he said. “It allows us to shake the rust off and train new Soldiers to be able to meet our high standards. This allows us, as an engineer unit, to be even more effective in the event of an actual state mission.”
| Date Taken: | 03.13.2008 |
| Date Posted: | 04.22.2015 22:44 |
| Story ID: | 160927 |
| Location: | RICKENBACKER AIR NATIONAL GUARD BASE, OHIO, US |
| Web Views: | 38 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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