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CAMP ATTERBURY, Ind. – After a week of realistic, hands-on training during Vibrant Response 13, the soldiers of Task Force - Operations have begun trickling back into Camp Atterbury, tired and eager to complete the journey home to their respective states.
For TF-Ops, the annual exercise took place at the Muscatatuck Urban Training Center and Forward Operating Base Panther, about two hours south of Indianapolis.
Upon arrival to the FOB, the exercise began with a simulated, catastrophic attack on a large American city that left thousands of civilians trapped inside contaminated rubble without life-sustaining support.
Immediately, TF-Ops, comprised of 21 units from nine installations, swung into action, each fulfilling a crucial role.
"Each unit responded with their games faces on," said Col. Bret Van Camp, commander of TF-Ops and 1st Maneuver Enhancement Brigade of Fort Polk, La. "The separate battalions had never been employed together, but for this exercise, they came together quickly and realized it's about preparing to help Americans."
In the case of a domestic emergency, the nearly 1,600-strong task force is a significant part of the Defense Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear Response Force, tasked with providing support to local, state and federal agencies, executing lifesaving and life-sustaining missions, providing logistical support, and chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear consequence management.
In the aftermath of the simulated attack a total of 54 missions were completed in seven days.
Hypothetical first responders and police departments were quickly overwhelmed and stretched to the breaking point with thousands of stranded survivors and instances of rioting and looting.
To assist the local departments regain law and order, units from the 519th Military Police Battalion took over the majority of search and rescue operations.
In areas like collapsed parking garages and buildings, members from technical rescue companies began digging and cutting survivors from crushed vehicles, all the time wearing protective suits and oxygen tanks.
Units from the 94th Engineer Battalion cleared roads for emergency vehicles, while the 46th Engineer Battalion decontaminated approximately 2,300 civilians rescued from the "hot zone."
Back at the FOB, the 337th Signal Company maintained communications with the units, passing new missions and progress reports back and forth.
And soldiers from the 53rd Quartermaster Company kept hundreds of military vehicles filled with fuel.
"The exercise allowed the [service members] to gain a understanding of what would be expected of them if a catastrophic event like this occurred," said Van Camp.
"The amount of experience we gained here would have taken months back home," Sgt. Jesse Walls, a squad leader with 178th Technical Rescue Company, 46th Engineer Battalion. "And it was nice to work with the other organizations that make up our task force."
But, before most of the units even reach home, another exercise is already in the works.
"We are trying to get the whole task force together again for a field training exercise in December," said Van Camp. "We need to go after this quarter after quarter, maintain the standard of excellence, so we are ready when America needs us most."
| Date Taken: | 08.05.2012 |
| Date Posted: | 08.05.2012 23:21 |
| Story ID: | 92694 |
| Location: | MUSCATATUCK URBAN TRAINING CENTER, INDIANA, US |
| Hometown: | FORT CAVAZOS, TEXAS, US |
| Hometown: | FORT JOHNSON, LOUISIANA, US |
| Web Views: | 140 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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