Eielson sharpens emergency management response skills

  • Published
  • By Airman 1st Class Yash Rojas
  • 354th Fighter Wing Public Affairs
EIELSON AIR FORCE BASE, Alaska --  Airmen across Eielson Air Force Base put incident training to practice during an operational readiness exercise March 7 to 11. The exercise served as an opportunity for Eielson's leadership to observe the installation's incident response capabilities from start to finish and to evaluate emergency management processes.

Within minutes of an emergency, first responders and an incident commander are established to gain control of the situation. Incident commanders provide the overall leadership and have a large amount of responsibility, requiring a high level of training and experience. Training is plentiful while experience only happens when things go badly. Conducting OREs provides incident commanders valuable experience before lives are on the line.

"The incident command system is very versatile," said Master Sgt. Blaine Barker, 354th Civil Engineer Squadron Fire Protection Flight assistant chief of operations and an incident commander.

Depending on the type of emergency, the incident commander may request different agencies to support on-scene response efforts. One of the most intense scenarios was the response to an active shooter. The incident commander launched a response that included support from the 354th Security Forces Squadron, 354th Medical Support Squadron, and 354 CES.

"We rely on the expertise responders bring to the scene," said Sergeant Barker. "We ask (first responders) , 'tell us what you need and we'll get it for you.'"

The incident commander works with the supporting sections and functions as one team to ensure on-scene experts have the resources necessary to complete their portion of the emergency response effort. The ORE introduced a complicated combination of scenarios throughout the week including an active shooter, suspicious packages, and explosives. Each scenario required a particular emergency response from different agencies including the 354 CES Explosive Ordinance Disposal Flight and 354th Medical Group.

Participants faced challenging scenarios designed to test emergency response training in initial stages through search and recovery. After the initial response was complete, the incident commander relinquished command to the recovery operations commander. Next, search and recovery teams took the proper steps to bring the installation back to standard operations. This phase included restoring affected facilities and people to mission status.

Before arriving at the incident scene, members of mortuary affairs review a checklist, and the mortuary affairs officer coordinates to ensure the scene is safe before initiating search and recovery efforts. Search and recovery received one of its biggest tests this exercise when a total of 12 casualties were reported during a mock explosion. After confirmation from the recovery operations commander, mortuary affairs helped provide stability by gathering information concerning remains and accountability.

"We are more or less, the calm in the middle of a storm," said Staff Sgt. Russell Gray 354th Force Support Squadron readiness technician and mortuary affairs NCO in charge. "We help bring peace to family members and their units by letting them know that their fellow teammates and loved-ones were taken care of with honor and dignity."

Mortuary affairs members rigorously train to search for missing individuals and recover remains, ever mindful of ensuring our fallen are treated with the utmost honor and dignity. Other responsibilities include notification of family and assisting with preparation of remains. In the event of a mass casualty event, the Air Force Mortuary Affairs Office would provide additional manpower and resources.

"This is the first mass casualty exercise that I have been a part of while at Eielson," said Amy Williams, the 354 FSS casualty affairs representative and survivor benefit's plan counselor. "I learned how our team can improve. In a real-world event, initial plans sometimes fail. It was helpful to see how to come up with alternative methods of overcoming challenges."

With a week full of emergency incidents completed, units documented their observations and areas for improving their emergency management processes. With its conclusion, Eielson's leadership took the lessons learned and will continue to prepare Airmen for future real-world emergencies.