CAMP MURRAY, Wash. - In the Seattle area, disaster can come in many natural forms, including coastal storms, earthquakes, landslides, volcanoes and floods; but mock terrorist's bombs and chemical storage accidents are the scenarios here that will call out the National Guard as a first military responder.
Hundreds of Washington National Guard Soldiers and Airmen are working with federal, state and local agencies here May 1-8 to support and train in the Department of Homeland Security's National Level Exercise 2008 (NLE 2-08).
The full-scale training event joins emergency responders in a multistate scenario testing their ability to react to domestic emergencies.
The exercise comes shortly after the Guard's disaster response exercise "Vigilant Guard," held in Tennessee and South Carolina April 21-24, where thousands of Guardmembers from a dozen states worked similarly with federal, local and state responders following two mock earthquakes.
This DHS exercise includes a Category 4 hurricane in the Washington D.C. area, a terrorist attack in Seattle involving weapons of mass destruction (WMD), the release of chemical agents from a tanker truck explosion near Washington's Canadian border and the accidental release of a chemical agent at a stockpile facility in Oregon.
Responding Guard units in Washington include the Joint Operations Center, the 10th Weapons of Mass Destruction-Civil Support Team and the Chemical Biological, Radiological, Nuclear, or High Yield Explosive (CBRNE) Enhanced Response Force Package (CERFP).
NLE 2-08 centers on three training events, said 1st Lt. Keith Kosik, a Washington Guard spokesmen. First, a terrorist attack in downtown Seattle on May 1, which has severe consequences in loss of life, transportation systems, communication systems and the economy.
The Seattle exercise is taking place at "Leschi Town" on Fort Lewis, which is an active-duty Army urban combat training center. Washington's response units are working with other agencies there. Normally, the training center's 52 mock city buildings prepare combat Soldiers for urban warfare.
The second event begins May 5 when a simulated release of toxic chemicals occurs at the Umatilla Chemical Depot in Umatilla, Ore. A final training event occurs May 6 in Whatcom County when a simulated chemical tanker truck, carrying 4,000 gallons of methyl isocyanate, explodes. Officials said Guardmembers are training at all venues to work with all participants.
Officials said the primary goals of the exercise include:
- Development of interagency coordination and cooperation
- Evaluation of the response during the training events
- Integration and synchronization of emergency responders throughout Washington
- Incorporation of the capabilities of federal partners
- Providing opportunities for emergency responders to exchange best practices and lessons learned
- Community preparedness and awareness.