CALAYAN ISLAND, Cagayan -– When disaster strikes, people often do not have time to think and revert to basic instincts and training. Communities and emergency first responders must always train for the worst of situations so they are prepared when disaster strikes. The Hawaii National Guard and Charlie Company of the 448th Civil Affairs Battalion trained alongside Philippine Soldiers in a training exercise to prepare all the groups for disasters and crises on Calayan Island in the Cagayan providence of the Philippines May 16, 2017.

As part of Exercise Balikatan 2017, both active duty and reservists of the Armed Forces of the Philippines, members of the Hawaii National Guard, Calayan Fire Department members and eager citizen volunteers participated in a simulated mass casualty exercise.

U.S. and Philippine service members and civilian first responders put weeks of training into action with a simulated medical evacuation for a downed pilot as a culminating event for the simulated mass casualty exercise.

“Everyone did excellent, they’ve worked hard for the last two weeks in three locations in the country,” said U.S. Army Capt. Rob McQueen, civil affairs officer, 448th Civil Affairs Battalion.

For some members of the exercise, despite just meeting a few weeks ago, the bonds built through training are starting to help day-to-day operations and communication between the two partner militaries.

“This is my first mission with the Philippine Army and it has been great,” said Sgt. 1st Class Courtney Lindsay, Hawaiian National Guard. “Since we’ve touched down, they’ve been very kind and generous. I just only image our relationship getting stronger.”

The exercise, which focused on humanitarian assistance and disaster relief, started with the recovery of an injured pilot hoisted up to a medical UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter, followed by collecting and caring for 20 injured civilians. This required the participants to learn how to triage and act with speed to get the role player victims out of the danger zone with the use of a CH-47 Chinook helicopter.

Each group brought a different perspective and skill set to the combined training event which enabled all participating forces to learn different skills and new ways of thinking to address mass casualty events.

“Building friends, working together, and sharing resources have been the best thing that I have gotten from all of this,” Lindsay concluded.