Photo By Staff Sgt. Melissa Bright | Soldiers from the 836th Engineer Company participate in a collapsed structure...... read more read more
DALLAS, Texas - As Texas prepares to stand up the region's Homeland Response Force, the new standard in regional incident protection, it takes every opportunity to train and equip the soldiers and airmen that comprise the host element, Joint Task Force 71.
JTF 71, a brigade-level organization with specialized and tactical subordinate units, includes Texas Air and Army National Guard members from all around the state.
The units make up key elements of the new Defense Department chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear and high-yield explosive consequence management enterprise, according to a Homeland Security and Defense Industry brief.
“Each has a medical team, a search and extraction team, a decontamination team and command and control capabilities, and is strategically positioned to enable ground transportation to the site of an event within 12 hours of notification of support request,” said Army Capt. Steve Shippers, Deputy Operations Officer for JTF 71.
North Texas' hosting of Super Bowl 45 provided the perfect opportunity to bring together all components of the HRF under JTF 71 and expose them to a unique real-world training environment allowing them to concentrate on traditional basic skills.
To properly execute such a complex mission with so many diverse pieces, JTF 71 employed their units with coordinated and precise movements.
The JTF 71 headquarters company unloaded and completely constructed a mobile command operations center within hours of arriving at the small World War II-era installation of Fort Wolters, Texas.
At the same site twelve hours later, soldiers of the 436th Chemical Company, headquartered in Laredo, Texas, fully assembled three bright yellow decontamination tents, making them mission-ready. Almost immediately, they broke down complex safety equipment and packed it away in preparation to do it all again the next day.
Concurrently, Armored Security Vehicles belonging to the 236th Military Police Company from San Antonio, lined up next to green troop carriers and white trucks carrying the chemical company's equipment.
Two days after their arrival, members from each of the units transitioned to weapons qualification training, reinforcing their basic Army skills.
Thirty miles east, civil support teams from throughout the region, including Arkansas, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Texas and Utah began assisting numerous area fire departments in multiple baseline radiological element sweeps around the Dallas/Fort Worth area.
The 836th Engineer Company, based in Kingsville, Texas, traveled more than 200 miles north to engage a solid week of scenario-based search and extraction training on a compound staged to emulate the layout of the Cowboys Stadium.
“Maintaining a constant state of readiness is crucial to the success of an emergency response mission," said Army Capt. Michael Miller, commander for the 836th Engineer Company. "Being able to tailor the training and manipulate the training environment to potential real-world situations can only increase our chances of success."
Traditional National Guard training plans, both monthly and annually, are designed to reinforce basic Soldier skills, such as weapons qualification, tactical vehicle training, combat life support and hand-to-hand combat.
The establishment of a HRF requires units to modify their training to increase overall readiness for emergency response and necessitates a creative approach to the training planning process.
"It takes a little bit longer now," said Army 1st Lt. Joseph Meller, Training Officer for JTF 71. "We need to coordinate with numerous civilian agencies and expand our training schedules out further. Each time we get together we identify additional opportunities for improvement."
One challenge we face is overlapping the military version of an operating procedure and the civilian interpretation; and we have to work constantly to ensure we use common language, he continued.
"Super Bowl 45 provided us the perfect opportunity to accomplish several objectives," said Army Lt. Col. Daniel Quick, commander for the CBRNE Enhanced Response Force Package.
CBRNE refers to the threats the unit can encounter, including chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear and high-yield explosives. The CERFP encompasses the joint elements of the engineer, chemical and medical units of Joint Task Force 71.
"We were able to complete individual training and Soldier-tasks," said Quick. "This allowed the leadership to shift focus and attention to the completion of a military decision-making process, directly addressing the logistics of responding to a large scale incident centered around the Cowboys Stadium."
In the world of military training, opportunities to bring together such a large-scale exercise with real-world applications are as valuable as seats to the Super Bowl.
"Our leadership was able to fine tune systems and processes, highlight strengths and discover weaknesses," said Quick. "We can identify courses of action for the future and adjust our efforts as needed."
| Date Taken: | 02.01.2011 |
| Date Posted: | 02.08.2011 17:57 |
| Story ID: | 65038 |
| Location: | DALLAS, TEXAS, US |
| Web Views: | 229 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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