ULAANBAATAR, Mongolia –
The governments of Mongolia and the United States conducted an
earthquake-readiness exercise together this week here. Gobi Wolf 2015 is a
civil-military disaster preparedness and response initiative that focuses on
regional readiness in response to natural and man-made disasters.
Gobi
Wolf is part of the Pacific Resilience Disaster Response Exercise and Exchange
program, which focuses on interagency coordination and foreign humanitarian
assistance. It is designed to test disaster response processes while maximizing
realism through a series of scenarios.
Approximately 100 participants
from 30 governmental, non-governmental, municipal and military agencies across
Mongolia, the U.S. and international relief agencies participated in the
disaster response exercise & exchange.
According to Justin Pummell,
U.S. Army Pacific program manager for pacific resilience "The value of Gobi Wolf
is its ability to promote interagency coordination and civil-military
cooperation between humanitarian-assistance/disaster-relief stakeholders from
the Government of Mongolia, the U.S., international government agencies,
non-governmental agencies and others; This builds relationships, which can
expedite communication during a real-world emergency."
The two primary
objectives of Gobi Wolf are to promote interagency coordination and
civil-military coordination between the National Emergency Management Agency
(NEMA), the Mongolia Armed Forces, the U.S. and others, and to increase the
capacity of the Government of Mongolia to know what would be available to them
as international tools and services to support government-led disaster-response
efforts.
"The exercise offers an outstanding opportunity for us to work
together, build the relationships between organizations that will allow us to
respond more effectively in the time of disaster," said Maj. Gen. Gregory
Bilton, deputy commanding general (operations) for U.S. Army Pacific. "This is
why exercises like Gobi Wolf are so important.
The four-day exercise
included disaster risk and multi-agency capacity briefs, a table-top exercise,
and field training events at the Chinggis Khaan International Airport and the
Khan-uul District Hospital in Ulaanbaatar.
The exercise evaluated
Mongolia disaster readiness through five separate focus areas including national
emergency management, media relations/communication, military considerations,
first responder, and international government and non-governmental
agencies.
The five workgroups spent the exercise responding to scenario
events to evaluate how the 30 agencies involved would respond to assist affected
populations in an actual earthquake. The strengths and weaknesses identified are
being recorded and will be analyzed to improve disaster-response
planning.
"It is designed to grow and reinforce capacity through
scenarios that simulate reality, identify procedural gaps, and practice
techniques required for efficient and collaborative response by civilian and
military authorities," said Pummell. "Pacific Resilience practices how
militaries support civilian authorities when required during disaster
situations, the reception and dissemination of foreign humanitarian assistance
and the strategic communication required to successfully execute emergency
management plans."
Gobi Wolf is part of U.S. Army Pacific's Pacific
Resilience program, USARPAC's main platform for identifying best practices and
lessons learned across the humanitarian assistance/disaster relief spectrum. Its
mission is to enhance all parties' abilities to respond and recover from an
emergency situation.