Courtesy Photo | U.S. Air Force Staff Sgt. John Norris, 97th Operations Support Squadron intelligence...... read more read more
Members of the 97th Civil Engineer Squadron’s Readiness and Emergency Management Flight conducted a radiological response exercise at Altus Air Force Base, Oklahoma on October 8, 2021.
The quarterly exercise ensures compliance with Department of Defense policies and demonstrates the flight’s ability to respond to incidents involving chemical, biological, radiological or nuclear hazards.
Prior to entering a hazardous area, first responders donned personal protective equipment with the help of Emergency Management Support Team members.
“Our job is to help the responders before they go downrange and ensure their PPE and detection equipment is working properly,” said Staff Sgt. Corey Smith, 97th CES emergency management support team member. “This helps the responders preserve energy and stay focused on their response objectives while we handle the logistics.”
The EMST is comprised of members from five units across the 97th Air Mobility Wing including the 97th CES, 97th Operations Support Squadron, 97th Logistics Readiness Squadron, 97th Comptroller Squadron and 97th Contracting Squadron. Each unit and their respective members bring a variety of skills and talents to the table.
Staff Sgt. John Norris, 97th OSS intelligence operations noncommissioned officer in charge, said his experience as an EMST has been a nice change of pace.
“I usually work in an intelligence vault…so being a part of a response team is a completely different perspective than what I normally see every day.” Norris continued, “Training together like this is important so the mission can run smoothly if anything was to happen here on base.”
In addition to responding to any incidents on base, the R&EM Flight may be called upon to support other federal agencies such as the Department of Energy, who routinely transport radioactive material. On average, three million shipments of radioactive material are transported throughout the United States each year.
Conducting routine radiological response exercises is imperative due to the complexity of handling radioactive material. Training builds confidence in the tools and techniques used as well as identifying areas for improvement.
At the end of the day, the more we practice, the better we play.
| Date Taken: | 10.08.2021 |
| Date Posted: | 10.27.2021 15:51 |
| Story ID: | 408142 |
| Location: | ALTUS AIR FORCE BASE, OKLAHOMA, US |
| Web Views: | 28 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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