An official website of the United States government
A .mil website belongs to an official U.S. Department of Defense organization in the United States.
A lock (lock ) or https:// means you’ve safely connected to the .mil website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.

Home : News : Article View
NEWS | June 26, 2014

Kentucky Air Guard’s 123rd Contingency Response Group completes earthquake response exercise

By Air Force 2nd Lt. James W. Killen 123rd Airlift Wing

FORT CAMPBELL, Ky. - The Airmen of the Kentucky Air National Guard's 123rd Contingency Response Group successfully demonstrated their disaster-response capabilities here June 16-19 during training exercise CAPSTONE '14. The exercise tested the 123rd CRG's response to a simulated major earthquake that as part of the scenario caused massive damage across an eight-state region from Arkansas to Ohio.

The 123rd CRG, working in partnership with the Army's 688th Rapid Port Opening Element, established a joint port opening operation within hours of deploying to Fort Campbell's airfield. The joint operation was charged with receiving and processing large quantities of food, water, medicine and other relief supplies arriving by airlift. The supplies were then trucked to a staging point for further distribution into affected areas.

The reception and off-loading of aircraft was handled by the Kentucky Air Guard members, while the Soldiers were responsible for delivering the supplies to their final destination, explained Army Capt. Jacob Elders, executive officer of the 688th RPOE.

The flight line operated like a well-choreographed dance with aircrews in C-130 Hercules aircraft landing, offloading the cargo onto10,000-pound forklifts and then taking off again in quick succession all under the control of the CRG. Meanwhile, heavy transport vehicles from the 688th RPOE would transport the supplies to a staging area called the forward node, known here only as "The Node."

In the Joint Operations Center where movements were coordinated, for many it wouldn't have been difficult to understand how seriously each service member took the mission to ensure the steady flow of relief to people in need.

Morning meetings functioned as round tables where every element had the opportunity to outline its objectives, expectations, needs and successes, said Lt. Col. Bruce Bancroft, chief of the Joint Assessment Team. The meetings took less than 15 minutes, he said, despite the fact that input was sought from more than 30 people — a testament to knowing the importance of the mission, the need to be quick and efficient, but also to ensure that necessary information was shared.

"When you are trying to get relief supplies to hundreds of thousands of people, there is no time for extra words," Bancroft said. "The mission comes first, and it has to be accomplished quickly, efficiently and in a manner that ensures no one waits longer for us than is absolutely necessary."

Army Capt. Gary "Luke" Wheeler, commander of the 688th RPOE, was pleased with the performance of the joint team, and said the exercise "turned out very well."

"We had some great planning going into the exercise and good communications," he added. "Everything we needed, we got support for on the RPOE side. It was definitely a well-executed mission by everybody."

Air Force Col. Mark Heiniger, commander of the 123rd CRG, agreed with Wheeler's assessment, noting that the teamwork displayed by the Airmen and Soldiers was "phenomenal."

"We're very proud of our Airmen and Soldiers," said he said. "Their enthusiasm for the mission and willingness to give it everything they had was the key to our mission success."

Exercises like CAPSTONE '14 are not only designed to test the capabilities of military personnel, Heiniger added, they also enhance working relationships with multiple cooperating civilian agencies.

"We incorporated our exercise with another event called CUSEC, which is short for Central U.S. Earthquake Consortium," he said. "So, we got as much bang for the buck out of this exercise as we could. This was a team-building exercise for government agencies, state agencies, our CRG and our RPOE."

 

 

Related Articles
U.S. Soldiers with the Army National Guard speak with D.C. locals while patrolling Metro Center Aug 26, 2025. About 2,000 National Guard members are supporting the D.C. Safe and Beautiful mission providing critical support to the D.C. Metropolitan Police Department in ensuring the safety of all who live, work, and visit the District.
Guard Members From Six States, D.C. on Duty in Washington in Support of Local, Fed Authorities
By Sgt. 1st Class Jon Soucy, | Aug. 29, 2025
WASHINGTON – More than 2,000 National Guard Soldiers and Airmen from six states and the District of Columbia are on duty in Washington as part of Joint Task Force – District of Columbia in support of local and federal...

Lt. Gen. H. Steven Blum, chief of the National Guard Bureau, Maj. Gen. Russel Honore, Task Force Katrina commander, and Brig. Gen. John Basilica, 256th Infantry Brigade Combat Team commander, talk to news media during the aftermath of Hurricane Rita on Sep. 29, 2005. Basilica was appointed commander of Task Force Pelican, responsible for coordinating National Guard hurricane response efforts across the State. The task force included tens of thousands of National Guard Soldiers from Louisiana and other states.
Louisiana Guard’s Tiger Brigade Marks 20th Anniversary of Redeployment and Hurricane Response
By Rhett Breerwood, | Aug. 29, 2025
NEW ORLEANS – This fall, the Louisiana National Guard’s 256th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, known as the Tiger Brigade, commemorates the 20th anniversary of its redeployment from Iraq in September 2005, coinciding with the...

Alaska Air National Guard HH-60G Pave Hawk aviators and Guardian Angels, assigned to the 210th and 212th Rescue Squadrons, respectively, conduct a hoist rescue demonstration while participating in a multi-agency hoist symposium at Bryant Army Airfield on Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Alaska, July 22, 2025. The symposium, hosted by Alaska Army National Guard aviators assigned to Golf Company, 2-211th General Support Aviation Battalion, included U.S. Coast Guard crews assigned to Sector Western Alaska and U.S. Arctic out of Air Stations Kodiak and Sitka, Alaska Air National Guardsmen with the 176th Wing rescue squadrons, U.S. Army aviators from Fort Wainwright’s 1-52nd General Support Aviation Battalion, Alaska State Troopers, and civilian search and rescue professional volunteers from the Alaska Mountain Rescue Group. The collaborative training drew on the participants’ varied backgrounds, experiences, and practices, to enhance hoist proficiency and collective readiness when conducting life-saving search and rescue missions in Alaska’s vast and austere terrain. (Alaska Army National Guard photo by Alejandro Peña)
Alaska Air Guard Conducts Multiple Hoist Rescues of Stranded Rafters on Kichatna River
By Staff Sgt. Seth LaCount, | Aug. 29, 2025
JOINT BASE ELMENDORF-RICHARDSON, Alaska — Alaska Air National Guard members with the 176th Wing rescued three rafters Aug. 28 after their raft flipped over on the Kichatna River.The Alaska Rescue Coordination Center opened...