Photo By Staff Sgt. Hannah Clifton | Spc. Reese Baker, a signal support systems specialist with the 38th Military Police...... read more read more
During June, UH-60 Black Hawks lifted survivors from rooftops, state and military police officers responded to civil unrest and first responders worked together to rescue casualties from rubble piles. Despite all the action, there wasn’t a crisis.
These activities were all a part of training exercise, Homeland Defender at Muscatatuck Urban Training Center near Butlerville, Indiana.
Homeland Defender is a large-scale, multiorganizational exercise that prepares agencies to deploy in the event of natural and man-made disasters. Bringing various state, national, international and private organizations together to train side-by-side ensures these teams are ready to respond when disaster strikes.
“This exercise changed from Hoosier Defender to Homeland Defender because we wanted to make this an opportunity that National Guards within the region and other agencies could join,” said exercise director Indiana Air National Guard Lt. Col. Stephanie Railey.
Railey spent the last 10 months planning Homeland Defender with the assistance of Indiana Army National Guard 1st Sgt. Zach Baker, exercise operations director, and 1st Lt. Jai’Ly Browning, exercise planner.
The first Homeland Defender took place in 2021 however, this year’s exercise doubled in support and capabilities. The exercise was designed to simulate the cascading effects that occur during a crisis with agencies working together to respond to the initial mission as well as the changing events that occur as the response progressed by having multiple training lanes occurring simultaneously.
The training lanes included aerial aquatic rescue, reconnaissance and decontamination missions, civil unrest response, search and rescue operations, crisis communication response and more.
Browning and Baker emphasized that the participants are excited to get hands-on training and networking opportunities.
“One of the biggest aspects is integrating agencies because a lot of our agencies don’t get to have these relationships developed before something actually happens,” said Browning. “Training together and building those relationships is one of the biggest things about this exercise.”
Indiana National Guard leadership hopes to continue growing Homeland Defender, further expanding interagency capabilities.
“There is so much more that we can do. We have such a wonderful training venue here in Indiana, we have so much opportunity to train,” said Railey. “We want to grow this and make it better and more relevant and build excitement because if we wait until the disaster happens, we are too late.”
Whether survivors need hoisted from a flood or pulled from a collapsed structure, the Indiana National Guard and their partners are training to assist people by land, water and air.
Agencies that participated in Homeland Defender include;
Indiana Army and Air National Guard
Indiana Task Force 1
Indiana State Police
Indiana Department of Homeland Security
Indiana Helicopter Aquatic Rescue Team
Monroe Fire Department
Fort Wayne Police Department
Indiana Civil Support Team
Illinois National Guard
Ohio National Guard
Kentucky National Guard
Verizon Frontline
Israel Defense Forces
Nigerian Armed Forces
Slovakian Armed Forces
| Date Taken: | 06.16.2023 |
| Date Posted: | 06.16.2023 09:52 |
| Story ID: | 447385 |
| Location: | INDIANA, US |
| Web Views: | 555 |
| Downloads: | 1 |
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