Approximately 1,200 personnel from U.S. Northern Command’s Joint Task Force Civil Support, U.S. Army North, Department of Defense (DOD), Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) came together to validate their effectiveness in responding to Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear (CBRN) disasters in the U.S. for Vibrant Response 24, April 22-29, 2024.
Vibrant Response 24 (VR 24) is a one-phase exercise intended to evaluate DOD’s ability to deploy, employ and sustain specialized military response forces at the request of civilian authorities to save lives and relieve human suffering following a catastrophic CBRN incident.
“Exercises like VR 24 are vital to protecting the homeland because it gives us the chance to practice the skills required to rapidly deploy and respond, testing not only our ability to work together with multiple agencies but also how quickly we can scale our capabilities in the event that a catastrophic incident were to occur,” said U.S. Army Col. Tanya McGonegal, commander of Joint Task Force Civil Support.
U.S. Army North, in coordination with U.S. Northern Command and DHS, have conducted these annual exercises since 2008. VR 24 provides rigorous and realistic training to prepare the DOD’s CBRN response units to integrate with civilian partners and respond to natural or man-made catastrophic CBRN events.
“While the threats to our homeland are complex, our ability to rapidly respond with our interagency partners is vital to maintaining our strategic advantage,” said Lt. Gen. John R. Evans, Jr., U.S. Army North Commander.
The exercise is conducted face-to-face and virtually through collaborative software at Fort Carson, Colorado, with distributed sites in at Fort Carson, Colorado; Joint Base San Antonio–Fort Sam Houston, Texas; Joint Base Langley-Eustis, Virginia; Camp Grayling, Michigan ; Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base New Orleans; California Office of Emergency Services (Cal OES)/Federal Emergency Management Agency Region 9 Defense Coordinating Officer/Element in Sacramento, California; and Dual-Status Commander in Oakland, California.
| Date Taken: | 04.23.2024 |
| Date Posted: | 04.24.2024 13:32 |
| Story ID: | 469408 |
| Location: | FORT EUSTIS, VIRGINIA, US |
| Web Views: | 67 |
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