A group of Headquarters and Headquarters Squadron Marines, posing as terrorists, hold a victim hostage with rubber RPGs and a mock explosive during an anti-terrorism drill held at MCAS New River April 28.Photo by: Lance Cpl. Samuel D. White
Posted on 05/04/2006 3:58:23 PM PDT by SandRat
MARINE CORPS AIR STATION NEW RIVER, N.C. (May 4, 2006) -- What if everything that could possibly go wrong in one day did?
What if victims were drowning in New River, flames were engulfing the Station flightline, unknown chemicals were floating in the air and Marines were laying in the middle of it all, injured from the various incidents?
Not to mention the military police district is in a shoot out at the same time with terrorists who are holding a hostage at Station operations and making ridiculous demands.
So, if all of this were to happen in one day how would you respond?
Marine Corps Air Station New River answered that question during a mass casualty drill and an antiterrorism force protection drill April 28.
The mass casualty exercise was conducted in preparation for the “2006 Sounds of Freedom Air Show,” that will be conducted at New River May 13 and 14 and the antiterrorism force protection drill was conducted as part of the Station’s annual training.
“We conduct these kind of exercises to demonstrate all the capabilities that New River has to offer in terms of how we respond to different situations,” said Duke Colvin, MCAS New River deputy director of operations.
Not only do the exercises show the Station’s strengths in response capability, it also can help the command of New River identify weaknesses that could use improvement.
“Communications are typically a problem and the process of getting the right assessment of what’s going on and feeding that information back up to the command center can always be improved,” said Col. Stephen L. Forand, Station commanding officer.
When the day finally came to a close and the players packed away their fire protection suits and rubber rocket propelled grenades, the command felt assured in the Station’s capabilities to respond to a crisis.
“I’m very confident in our initial response and our ability to be able to take care of injured Marines or civilians and get them to proper medical facilities in the event of a mishap,” said Forand.
A group of Headquarters and Headquarters Squadron Marines, posing as terrorists, hold a victim hostage with rubber RPGs and a mock explosive during an anti-terrorism drill held at MCAS New River April 28.Like Boy Scouts, Marines like to "BE PREPARED!"
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