GUAM - Army Lt. Col. David Francisco, director of logistics for the Guam Army National Guard, says Guam citizens know a thing or two about natural disasters.
"We have become experts with respect to defense support to civil authorities in storms and natural disasters because major or minor disasters are almost an annual occurrence here," said Francisco.
Looking at the volume and strength of typhoons and storms that hit this U.S. territory, Gulf Coast citizens and others on the mainland might want to count their blessings with hurricanes.
During 1997's Typhoon Paka, a wind gust topped 230 mph before the weather equipment that recorded it was destroyed. The entire island was without power for three months.
The Guam National Guard, including Francisco, was there during the recovery efforts.
"The island is thankful for the Guard not just locally, but nationally, because we bring a lot of resources to the fight in times of need," he said.
This week, Francisco is simulating his community assistance as part of the Guam Guard's logistics team taking part in homeland security exercise "Vigilant Guard." But the exercise scenario is a terrorist attack, not a typhoon.
Hundreds of Guard Soldiers and Airmen are participating in this full-scale, National Guard Bureau exercise Sept. 12-19 that joins federal, state and local responders in a simulated response to a terrorist attack on the island.
Francisco and 30 others kicked off the week's efforts Sept. 12 with a regional tabletop exercise at Guam's joint forces headquarters.
As the lead Army Guard logistician on an isolated island, he said he has to look at other avenues to obtain resources to use in an emergency.
"Hawaii is so far way from Guam, and California is so far away from Hawaii, it takes a lot longer to receive material and resources that we would certainly deplete in the first 24 hours of response," he said.
Because Vigilant Guard includes participants from other civilian, federal and military assets, Francisco said the exercise helps him work on how a terrorist attack would play out with local logistics. Observing tabletop discussions and presentations also provides him a feel for how Vigilant Guard's upcoming field exercises this week will play out.
Overseeing the initial, regional tabletop exercise was Army Capt. Florante Manaloto, project officer for Vigilant Guard.
"These participants represent the operations side of each of the agencies [in Vigilant Guard]," said Manaloto. "For example, Guam Homeland Security sends their operations officer here."
Manaloto said the basic [goal] was to refine EMAC (Emergency Management Assistance Compact) procedures. Agency representatives sat together and discussed the exercise scenario and how each agencies' policies and procedures play out.
"We brought in people from the FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency) Region 9 states to establish memorandums of agreement and memorandums of understanding to ensure that in a disaster we will be able to reach out to the region for assistance," said Manaloto.
Monday's leadership tabletop exercise planned to join response agency leaders, including active-duty military leaders, FEMA leaders, Guam's adjutant general, Maj. Gen. Donald Goldhorn, Gov. Felix Camacho and the territory's cabinet members. The week's field exercises will join all agency participants on the beach, but not for fun.
Guam's scenarios for Vigilant Guard call out participants for a simulated terrorist attack on the leeward side of the island, whose beaches and shops are a popular tourist attraction and vacation spot.
Specially trained and equipped Guard units from Guam and Hawaii will respond, including members of the island's Joint Task Force, Quick Reaction Force and Joint Operations Center and its 94th Weapons of Mass Destruction-Civil Support Team (CST), among others. Offshore participating states include members of the National Guard Bureau in Washington, and the Hawaii Guard's 93rd CST, Joint Mass Casualty Decontamination System and Joint Incident Site Communications Capability.
As with the potential for deadly weather here, Francisco said the treat of a terrorist attack on Guam soil is just as real, considering the presence of terrorist groups just across the Philippine Sea.
"The threat is there, it's real and it's present," said Francisco. "Thank goodness it's only an exercise."