KADENA AIR BASE, Japan –
Airmen participated in an Integrated Base Emergency Response Capabilities
Training exercise March 16 through 20 to improve their ability to react to
hazardous chemical threats on Kadena Air Base.
Bioenvironmental
engineering, emergency management, emergency medical service and firefighter
Airmen participated, and the training was led by instructors with the Alliance
Solutions Group Inc., from Newport News, Va. in an effort to streamline
emergency response.
Over the IBERCT exercise, Airmen were challenged to
react to mock-emergency scenarios at an accelerated pace such as the discovery
of an unknown white powder, chemical leak, explosion or radiation.
"It's
exciting, because this gives us an opportunity to do something outside of the
typical exercise situations we tend to get accustomed to," said Staff Sgt. James
Baker, 18th Civil Engineer Squadron Readiness and Emergency Management Flight
training NCO in charge. "In a smaller training scenario, one agency might finish
their work first and leave, because they've completed their objectives. With
this, everyone is in it together until the last thing is
done."
Approximately two days were dedicated to hands-on training in
a classroom for Airmen to overview and familiarize themselves with response
procedures. The responders took a proficiency test on the first day and took
another at the end of the week to see what was learned and how much their
skillsets have sharpened. Baker, who received ASG training at his last
assignment, said that if it's anything like his previous experience, everyone
will make a significant improvement.
Whether it's real-world or an
exercise, Airmen from emergency response career fields frequently rely on one
another to resolve hazards, which is why members from various agencies are
being paired up to complete specific tasks. Many of them have never worked
together before, yet they are still expected to rely on their training and
complete their objective.
"We frequently have new Airmen who just arrived
here, and this helps them get comfortable with the new equipment and, most
importantly, working together with our emergency management counterparts," said
Master Sgt. Gerald Braswell, 18th Aerospace Medicine Squadron Bioenvironmental
Engineering Flight chief. "Technically, we don't work together, but we respond
together as one team."
The training presented new and unfamiliar
scenarios for the Airmen along with new opportunities for them to combine their
assets to solve problems.
"Some of their equipment is similar to ours,
so we get to become more familiar with each other's capabilities," Braswell
said. "This helps us to capitalize on using our best resources to keep people
safe."
Throughout the week, responders will be dealt more complex and
difficult situations by the ASG instructors, resulting in higher levels of
stress and more challenges to learn from, followed by an overview of their
performance on the final day.
"I think this will help boost confidence
with everybody involved, whether it's something they've done 100 times before or
something they've never done," Baker said. "They'll walk away more confident in
their role as a responder and then as a cohesive team who works together, rather
than separately."