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| Photo By Tech. Sgt. Andrew Jackson | Members of the Armed Forces of the Philippines finish constructing a collapsed structure shoring system during a subject matter expert exchange in support of Balikatan 2017 at Fort Magsaysay in Santa Rosa, Nueva Ecija, May 8, 2017. These skills ensure that first responders and military members can secure and remove victims during a real-life crisis. Balikatan is an annual U.S.-Philippine bilateral military exercise focused on a variety of missions, including humanitarian assistance and disaster relief, and counterterrorism. (U.S. Air Force Photo by Tech. Sgt. Andrew L. Jackson) |
05.13.2017
Story by Tech. Sgt. Andrew Jackson
State of Hawaii, Department of Defense, Public Affairs Office
One of the key themes of the 2017 iteration of Balikatan, the annual U.S.-Philippine military bilateral training event, was Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Recovery (HA/DR). The Hawaii National Guard’s Chemical Biological Radiological Nuclear Explosive (CBRNE) - Enhanced Response Force Package (CERFP) Search and Extraction team has been participating in Balikatan since 2011. The CERFP’s Soldiers and Airmen have been working alongside the Armed Forces of the Philippines 525th Engineering Battalion and growing each other’s mastery of search and rescue techniques through Subject Matter Exchanges.
“The main goal for me, is that we operate as a team,” said Major James Kanoholani, Officer in Charge, Hawaii National Guard CERFP. “We speak the same language. We use the same techniques so that when the event comes, it will be that much easier to react.”
Each year, both forces bring new techniques that they have learned over the past twelve months to share with each other. Once this knowledge is reviewed and discussed, the skills are then demonstrated, establishing a base-line skill set. All of the training events are very hands-on with very limited lecture. This year soldiers from the AFP’s 2nd, 7th, and 9th infantry divisions along with Sailors, Airmen and Marines from throughout the AFP, participated in the HA/DR search and extraction exercise at Fort Magsaysay, north of Manila. The training facility used this year was an disused hospital site, perfect for standing in as a collapsed structure.
The HING brought 26 soldiers and three Airmen while over 170 members of the AFP participated. Some of the HA/DR activities conducted included: rescue skills such as rope rescue, collapsed structure shoring, manual lifting and hauling techniques, breaching and breaking, and medical treatment of victims. The medical portion of the exchange and training was bolstered as well. A course was added to the curriculum and was taught by three Hawaii Air Guardsmen from the 154th Wing’s, Detachment 1, a unit that makes up the medical treatment arm of the HING’s CERFP team.
“Since this is a HA/DR exercise, and at the CERFP, that is our primary focus because we are the disaster recovery team for the state of Hawaii,” said Master Sgt. Jared Mina, 154th Wing, Detachment 1, Search and Extraction Rescue Operations. “What we bring to the table as the Search and Extraction Rescue Operations group, are full time Emergency Medical Technicians, firefighters, and some paramedics. Plus we are qualified in rope rescue and hazardous material operations. We can operate in the disaster area and in a chem-bio CBRN environment. Those are the skills we are sharing with the AFP to make their overall capability greater. In-turn they are also sharing their capabilities with us, it has been a very good Subject Matter Expert Exchange (SMEE).”
The Balikatan HA/DR portion of the exercise is conducted in a round robin format with small groups. Each spending a day on one of the rescue skill stations performing skill checks for the rescue experts from the 525th and the HING. The next day brings another skill to the forefront.
Disaster recovery in Hawaii is the mission of the state’s National Guard and the CERFP is at the center of that effort. They spend months each year training and maintaining individual proficiency while preparing to respond to a natural disaster, both no-warning events like tsunamis and earthquakes, to hurricanes. For members of the Hawaii Army National Guard, this is actually their secondary duty. They all belong to other units and are required to keep up proficiency in both aspects of their guard jobs, which for most of them is in traditional or part-time status.
The Hawaii National Guard is a force with two main missions, Federal and State. Their federal mission is national security and the state mission is supporting the state during times of emergency. All the while, Hawaii and the Philippines share in their vulnerabilities to certain types of natural disasters, namely hurricanes or typhoons, earthquakes, and tsunamis. They also have similar climates and many members of the HING are of Filipino descent, making the partnership more like a close friendship.
“This is going to help us by not only keeping our training current but also developing a camaraderie with the AFP,” said Sgt. Kage Fergerstrom, Hawaii CERFP. “So if we need to respond here, we already have a good rapport between our two nations.”
Throughout the exchange, safety was on everyone’s mind. Making sure all the participants were properly protected and well hydrated.
“The safety of the rescuer always comes first,” said Sgt. Fergerstrom. “The safety of the team and then the safety of the victim. We always want to make sure we are safe so that we do not become an extra victim.”
During the closing days of the week long SMEE, Brig. Gen. Keith Tamashiro, HIARNG Commander, Brig. Gen. Stephen L.A. Michael, 25th Inf. Div., the AFP and leaders from other countries all toured the site to see the capabilities of the HING and AFP soldiers. This was followed by a media day where over 70 international, national and local journalists were invited to witness the types of HA/DR techniques that had been rehearsed during the 2017 iteration of Balikatan.
