Photo By 1st Lt. Christi Richter | Members of the Ohio National Guard’s 52nd Civil Support Team process through a...... read more read more
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In June, the Ohio National Guard’s 52nd Civil Support Team had the opportunity to participate in Exercise ORCA, three-day, multi-agency, all-hazards chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear high-yield explosives training event designed to foster coordination and interoperability among a range of federal, state and local agencies.
“Exercise ORCA is a 24-36-hour exercise here in Anchorage, Alaska,” said Lt. Col. Katie Enochs, 52nd CST commander. “ORCA is a multi-organizational training opportunity that validates our unit tactics and procedures and facilitates opportunities to practice baseline operations across a broad spectrum of interrogation targets with partner CSTs and local, state and federal first responders.”
The exercise is a chance for National Guard CST and Homeland Response Force teams from different states to work and train together during a common mission.
“There were five additional teams that participated in ORCA — the 103rd from Alaska, the Mississippi CST, Washington, Hawaii and Nebraska,” Enochs said. “We were able to work together as a team and do joint entry. That’s what’s great about doing these large-scale training exercises — we work together as teammates.”
This exercise also gives these specialized units the chance to work with civilian local first responders outside of the military.
“My experience with Exercise ORCA (was) very eye-opening,” said Master Sgt. Jaron Ross, 52nd CST Bravo Team chief. “It’s not like any other training exercises we usually do. Integrating with the CSTs (went) pretty smoothly, and I think it has helped us revitalize our ability to work with our local responders back in Ohio. Integration with the other three-letter agencies (was) fantastic, pretty seamless.”
The 52nd CST had a wide array of responsibilities within the exercise.
“We deployed out to Wasilla (Alaska) on one of our training scenarios, as one of the targets was at a local fire station,” Enochs said. “They needed additional support from the Alaska CST, and we were called out because we were on a standby mission. We were able to go assist those local first responders at those sites as far as assessing, identifying and helping to mitigate the scene’s hazards.”
Overall, Exercise ORCA was a positive learning and team-building opportunity for the 52nd CST.
“My favorite part of being the CST commander is the continuous learning on this team,” Enochs said. “My favorite part of (participating in) Exercise ORCA was traveling with my teammates and bonding together throughout the event.”
| Date Taken: | 06.15.2023 |
| Date Posted: | 12.21.2023 15:00 |
| Story ID: | 447349 |
| Location: | ANCHORAGE, ALASKA, US |
| Web Views: | 134 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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