Photo By Senior Master Sgt. Paula Macomber | Fire fighters from the 152nd Civil Engineer Squadron enter a building that is...... read more read more
RENO--The 152nd Airlift Wing, Nevada Air National Guard, performed a continuity of operations (COOP) and natural disaster exercise on Wednesday, September 25, 2024. The exercise was designed to evaluate the base’s ability to generate core mission functions in a degraded environment - in this case, following a large-scale earthquake.
For the inspectors, the day began early at 6:45 a.m. with a briefing from the Wing IG, Wing Plans, and Inspection Team. Each inspector received guidance on best practices for identifying deficiencies, recommended improvement areas, and how to identify outstanding performers.
The exercise kicked off at 8:00 a.m. with the delivery of a situation report to the Wing Commander, Col. Catherine Grush. At 8:15 a.m. the ‘simulated’ earthquake hit the greater Reno-Tahoe area. This was followed by an aftershock which notionally destroyed or shut down all but one building on base and knocked over the static display aircraft-closing off traffic at the front gate.
“We compressed about seven days into a six-hour time period,” said Maj. Dimitrius Kassebaum, Exercise Planner, “I saw great leadership and excellent followership making this exercise a success.”
Response for the earthquake and some tailored injects kept the exercise on track. The overarching goal of the exercise was to conduct a continuity of operations movement ON base (versus the standard practice of deploying elsewhere). The Wing was required to generate a deployment line, get folks out the door on a (simulated) deployment to the Horn of Africa, and stand up a modular airborne firefighting system (MAFFS) aircraft once requested to assist with nearby wildfires. Towards the end of the exercise, the local police department requested (simulated) assistance from the base (13 security forces members) in order to assist an overwhelmed Reno Police Department in downtown Reno. All of this was accomplished in the turmoil of a severely degraded environment.
All in all, the day went smoothly.
“From my perspective, as the Wing Commander, you more than met the intent of the exercise,” the Wing Commander, Col. Catherine Grush said, “I walked around and listened to people move through the exercise, the team was focused on making the exercise better and that was so refreshing.”
This helps meet the base’s readiness goals and one of the Adjutant General’s priorities of Advancing Full Spectrum Readiness. These exercises are a part of Continuous Evaluation and Improvement. They emphasize the importance of regular assessments, after-action reviews, and lessons learned that drive us to identify areas for improvement and refine readiness procedures. These exercises also encourage a culture of continuous learning and adaptation to stay ahead of evolving threats and challenges.
“More exercises like this one, which combine the requirements of multiple regulation-driven objectives, are on the horizon for the Nevada Air National Guard.” said Lt. Col. Christopher LeRoy, Wing Inspector General, “This helps meet the base’s readiness goals, the Adjutant General’s priorities of Advancing Full Spectrum Readiness, and gives us a mechanism to save more of our unit member’s valuable time. Such exercises are a part of our Wing’s Continuous Evaluation and Improvement. They reinforce a culture of continuous learning and permit units to make mistakes in a notional environment instead of figuring things out on the fly in a real world emergency.”
| Date Taken: | 09.25.2024 |
| Date Posted: | 10.10.2024 19:07 |
| Story ID: | 482966 |
| Location: | RENO, NEVADA, US |
| Web Views: | 61 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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Readiness Exercise
