RAPID CITY, S.D., - Soldiers sit stunned in their barracks as they slowly realize that they have been attacked. At first, it was confusing. Two men with large squirt guns ran into their living space and hosed down everyone in the room and then took off running.
As the Soldiers contemplated what kind of a rude joke was being played on them, they began to feel the symptoms: burning of the eyes and skin, difficulty breathing, and nausea. At this moment, every Soldier seemed to have the same horrible thought. "I have been attacked with a chemical weapon!"
This was just one of the scenes that played out in two separate locations: one was located at the U.S. Forest Service administration building in Spearfish, and the other was here at the Central States Fairgrounds June 19.
As 13 military and civilian agencies took part in this large-scale weapons of mass destruction (WMD) training event, the focus remained on the coordination of military and local civilian resources when responding to a simulated nuclear, biological, or chemical attack on domestic soil.
The WMD exercise began in both locations at 7:05 a.m. with two separate scenarios: In Rapid City, at the Central States Fairgrounds, there was a simulated attack on a military police unit by two men armed with squirt guns containing dangerous chemicals.
The Idaho National Guard's 101st Civil Support Team (CST), stationed in Boise, responded in protective suits with special equipment which allowed them to perform a reconnaissance of the affected area and extract the contaminated victims.
In the Spearfish location, the 82nd CST, coupled with local emergency response agencies, responded to a leaking suspicious package left on the back steps of the U.S. Forest Service administration building, said 1st Sgt. Todd Grabow of the 82nd CST.
After a thorough investigation and site characterization of the area, the 82nd CST entered the building and located envelopes containing a white powdery substance. The envelopes were addressed to one of the workers there. Presumptive analysis of the white powder concluded the substance was hoof and mouth disease.
Both CSTs and local responders have a variety of detection, monitoring and analysis capabilities that make it possible to render areas affected by such attacks safe for the local population. Saving lives and property is a priority concern for these response agencies.
In Rapid City, the Army Reserve's 704th Chemical Company, Arden Hills, Minn., set up tents and equipment that would be used to decontaminate casualties. The simulated victims were then assigned certain symptoms before going through the chemical decontamination process.
Lt. Col. John Emick, the supply management officer for the United States Property and Fiscal Office and WMD exercise coordinator said, "The actual intent of the exercise was really to get that interaction between these different agencies and different units." Emick said he believes the best way to achieve this is through "good, hard, realistic training."
To help attain this goal, the North Dakota Army National Guard's 191st Military Police Company, Fargo, N.D., and the Army Reserve's 399th Combat Support Hospital, Bedford, Mass., volunteered to role play as the attack victims.
The South Dakota National Guard's Joint Operations Center, as well as the SDARNG's 189th Aviation Regiment were involved, along with the U.S. Forest Service and the Pennington County Office of Emergency Management to name a few. The incident commander for the exercise was a member of the Rapid City Fire Department.
Anthony Carbajal (car-ba-hall), the Rapid City/Pennington County emergency manager from the Pennington County Office of Emergency Management was also present. Carbajal said that local civilian agencies can benefit from operating jointly with the military.
"There are a lot of necessary assets that the military has that the civilian side may not be aware of," he said. "A situation like this can easily go beyond the capabilities of what the local resources can handle."
Making this training as real as possible was a primary focus for the planners and coordinators of the exercise. Since Sept. 11, 2001, homeland security has become a serious concern and, now more than ever, civilians and military service members are expected to be able to operate alongside one another.
While the military brings considerable assets to a situation, the incident commander (IC), or person in charge of an event such as this, is typically a civilian. The IC needs to quickly assemble all available resources for a proper response in order to increase the survivability of any affected casualties. The integration of various responding agencies is key to successfully mitigating any potential WMD threat.
conducting training exercises such as the one, this integration becomes ever more prevalent for those involved.
As the affected Soldiers (casualties) lie on their backs, with eyes and skin burning, loud sirens cut through the sounds of their coughing and wheezing. Emergency response vehicles draw near for patient extraction, and the shrill of the sirens begin to reassure the simulated victims that help is on the way.
In that moment, the victims expressed the same reassuring thought that, "They came for us. We are going to be okay."