Aircraft Rescue and Fire Fighting Marines test IDF response procedures

Photo By Sgt. Samuel A. Nasso | Lance Cpl. John Ritchie and Cpl. Nathaniel Franey, Aircraft Rescue and Firefighters with Marine Wing Support Squadron 372, Marine Aircraft Group 40, Marine Expeditionary Brigade-Afghanistan, douse a simulated fire with aqueous film-forming foam during an indirect fire exercise, Dec. 27.  

CAMP LEATHERNECK, AFGHANISTAN

12.27.2009

Story by Lance Cpl. Samuel A. Nasso 

2nd Marine Aircraft Wing   

CAMP LEATHERNECK, Helmand province, Islamic Republic of Afghanistan — Aircraft Rescue and Fire Fighting Marines with Marine Wing Support Squadron 372, Marine Aircraft Group 40, Marine Expeditionary Brigade-Afghanistan, conducted an indirect fire exercise, Dec. 27, 2009, to test their response procedures.

"This exercise gives us and other emergency response services, such as PMO [Provost Marshal's Office] and medical, an opportunity to work together and ensure our standing operating procedures are up to speed," explained Gunnery Sgt. Juan Espinosa, the fire and emergency service chief with MWSS-372.

The exercise started with a single phone call to the Base Defense Operations Center on Camp Bastion to report that indirect fire had impacted the fuel farm on Camp Leatherneck. This call set off a chain reaction which alerted the other emergency response services.

Marines from PMO arrived first, and assumed the role of on-scene commander. They secured the area, assessed the casualties and moved all casualties to a safe area.

Moments later, the ARFF Marines arrived in humvees with twin-agent fire fighting units towed behind them. They also brought their rescue truck, a Mine Resistant Ambush Protected vehicle, which is outfitted as a fire truck for use outside of base where the threat of improvised explosive devices is heightened. The Marines jumped out of their vehicles, began putting on their fire-fighting gear, grabbed the hose and approached the fire without hesitation.

The fire was simulated by bright orange road cones and was quickly doused with coats of aqueous film-forming foam used by the ARFF Marines.

Simultaneously, a medical vehicle pulled in with corpsmen from the base Combined Aid Station. The corpsmen scurried out and attended to the simulated wounded Marines at the casualty collection point. Patients were triaged by the corpsmen before being placed on stretchers and taken to medical vehicles for transport to local medical facilities for further medical treatment.

The exercise ended minutes after it started and proved to be a good test of how the emergency services must coordinate with one another under critical circumstances like the one presented during the exercise.

"I was glad to see all of the players out there working with each other," said Master Sgt. Damian Farrar, the airfield operations company first sergeant with MWSS-372. "The more realistic the training and the more unexpected things that happen are, [it's] good because it better prepares the Marines for real emergencies."

The exercise provided the experience necessary for all of the participants to better familiarize themselves with each other and different situations.

"Drills are important because they give us a chance to work out any flaws that we may have and improve on them so no mistakes are made when the real thing happens," said Sgt. Brian Golden, ARFF assistant section leader and fire inspector with MWSS-372. "It is our job to train for any and every possible scenario that could happen and we know that the likelihood of something out of the ordinary happening here in Afghanistan is a lot higher ... than being back in garrison."

Overall, the exercise went smoothly with only minor miscues needing correction.

"You always have to remember tactics; you parked there and started fighting the fire against the wind, which would cast smoke everywhere in your way," Farrar told the AARF Marines following the exercise. "It is a drill though, and that is why we do them, to learn from our mistakes."

The ARFF Marines have conducted training scenarios, but this indirect fire exercise was the first training exercise that implemented the other role players.

"This is a baby step process," said Espinosa. "We have an SOP for our emergency services, and we conduct exercises like these to fine tune the SOP."

The ARFF Marines have planned to conduct additional drills and increase the scale of the exercises to implement more variables, such as coordinating with their United Kingdom counterparts or having multiple emergencies to respond to at the same time.

In the New Year, the ARFF Marines, base PMO, base medical and UK emergency services have scheduled a symposium to discuss the current SOP and coordinate with one another to improve the emergency response services on Camps Bastion and Leatherneck.

"We need all of the pieces on base to get together and work under a mutual umbrella," said Espinosa. "Once everybody is in sync, we will be ready for anything."

• Date Taken: 12.27.2009
• Date Posted: 01.13.2010 03:22
• Story ID: 43754
• Location: CAMP LEATHERNECK, AF