Exercise tests warriors

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. Amanda Callahan
  • 319th Air Refueling Wing Public Affairs
GRAND FORKS AIR FORCE BASE, N.D. --  The fire truck screeched around the corner. Meanwhile, mysterious liquids slowly crept out of barrels. Wreckage from several vehicles littered the road, trapping at least seven victims, maybe more.

That was part of the scenario Warriors of the North were presented during a major accident response exercise here Oct. 22. First responders--fire department, Security Forces, medical personnel, bioenvironmental engineers, to name a few--were faced with a car accident, which caused a hazardous material spill.

The car accident started a chain of events that led to the recall and stand up of the emergency operations center and the incident control center.

The exercise tested the wing's implementation of the Air Force Incident Management System, which took the place of the Full-Spectrum Threat Response program earlier this year.

"Overall, we did really well," Maj. Steven Dougherty, 319th Air Refueling Wing's Deputy Inspector General, said. "There were some communication problems, but we saw the objectives we needed to see."

Communication, both connectivity and flow, was the overall theme during the exercise evaluation team's out-brief.

"I know everyone knows how to do their business when they get out there," said Tech. Sgt. Mohamed Sharief, 319th Civil Engineer Squadron EET member. "But there are definitely some issues we need to work on as a wing."

Aside from some correspondence problems between the incident commander, the first responders and the EOC and ICC, the exercise proved that the Warriors of the North know how to get out there and get it done.

"Our medical folks did an excellent job," said Master Sgt. James Becks, 319th Medical Group EET member. "The initial response is sometimes a slow, overwhelming process, but they did perfect."

Those sentiments came from all sorts of units' EET members, from Security Forces to Command Post.

"We're still in the infant stages of implementing AFIMS," explained Major Dougherty. "Once the EOC is better equipped and some of the kinks are worked out, we'll be capable of handling any situation. That's why these exercises are important, so we can learn where to improve before a real emergency happens."

And with every exercise, we make corrections and improve processes, he added.