Emergency management service members from across Arizona assembled at the 161st Air Refueling Wing, Goldwater Air National Guard Base, Phoenix, for classroom instruction and a field training exercise in the event of a real-world weapons of mass destruction, chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear, or explosives event.
Arizona Airmen, of all components - active duty, guard and reserve - joined the 161 ARW. Attendees included Airmen from the 944th Fighter Wing and the 56th Fighter Wing, Luke Air Force Base, Phoenix, the 162nd Wing, Morris Air National Guard Base, Tucson, and the 91st Civil Support Team, Papago Park Military Reservation, Phoenix.
The classroom portion entailed a basic overview of weapons of mass destruction, chemical reactions and reactivities, along with the chemical properties, and a class on homemade explosives.
“We covered a little bit of everything,” said Master Sgt. Brett Sanchez, 161st Civil Engineer Squadron, installation emergency manager. “You have to know the reactivities and how to mitigate and protect yourself against chemicals you may come in contact with. You also need to make sure you have the proper personal protection of equipment in order to handle that situation, whatever it may be. It can really be a mixed bag - along with homemade explosives - that we deal with. We must be prepared and that is why we are having this training.”
The classroom portion also included an equipment overview of the breathing apparatuses similar to what firefighters use.
“They have to make sure they know how to use their [personal protective equipment] and it is in good working order, because it’s critical for making entry into hazardous environments,” said Sanchez. “We will be utilizing the Level A suits, which are the highest level of protection against any chemical vapor or splash, during the exercise.”
“We are actually putting on the suit and doing something, something applicable, to what we could be doing in the real world,” said Tech. Sgt. Robert Gonzalez, 162nd emergency management journeyman and participant in the exercise. “This is really good training.”
The field training exercise scenario entailed an unscheduled delivery with an oxygen tank inside a vehicle. In the scenario the tank falls over, but it is not filled with oxygen - it is filled with a foreign substance. The driver is overcome by the fumes and becomes incapacitated. A call is made, the emergency management Airmen respond, at which point they don their suits and mitigate the incident and ensure everyone is safe.
Sanchez said the day’s events will not only prepare the Airmen for a real-world emergency, but it also provided an opportunity for the Airmen from the different units and teams to work together and collaborate, as well as providing essential networking between the individual Airmen.
“You should not meet your partnering agencies at an emergency - you should know them well in advance,” said Sanchez. “We need to know these people, who they are, before we get on scene at an emergency.”
Gonzalez said the training also provided an opportunity for the teams to learn each other’s strong points within the common mission and how each team will each attack the goal.
“Everyone's strong in their own unique way,” said Sanchez. “We try to train the same, but we have had different experiences. Several of the Airmen are firefighters and are already trained in CBRNE, which allows us to bring in a fire aspect to the training. Maybe an Airman didn't know something but learns from one of the more experienced Airman- that improves us all. That's the whole reason why we did a joint-mass training like this.”
| Date Taken: | 02.02.2025 |
| Date Posted: | 02.02.2025 15:33 |
| Story ID: | 489939 |
| Location: | PHOENIX, ARIZONA, US |
| Web Views: | 35 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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