U.S. military firefighters train for earthquakes at Camp Zama

A U.S. military firefighter uses a saw to cut through a concrete wall during earthquake training at Camp Zama, Japan, March 26. The training was a part of the 33rd annual U.S. Forces Japan Fire Officers Association Training Symposium.

JAPAN
04.02.2019
Story by Winifred Brown
US Army Garrison - Japan 

For decades, the sounds of military family life at Camp Zama reverberated within the walls of 1078 MacArthur Drive, but March 26 through 28, 2019, firefighters took over the now-uninhabited home and filled it with sounds of hope for earthquake victims.

In this case, that meant the sounds of drills and saws creating holes in concrete walls and ceilings.

U.S. Army, Navy, Marine Corps and Air Force firefighters from throughout Japan and Okinawa gathered at Camp Zama for the 33rd annual U.S. Forces Japan Fire Officers Association Training Symposium, which featured a hands-on training scenario where firefighters had to reach earthquake victims inside a collapsed building.

Firefighters spent the first two days creating holes in concrete walls and ceilings and practicing sending firefighters through the holes to reach rescue dummies. The fire chiefs and other administrators, meanwhile, discussed the latest ways to improve fire protection, and on the last day, attended a demonstration of the training.

The demonstration showed how rescuers would first drill a small hole in the floor and place a special video camera through it to check on an earthquake victim; use a device to check the air quality below; cut a larger hole through the floor with saws and drills; send firefighters through the floor; and bring the victim up through the floor and out of the building for medical care. A firefighter videotaped the demonstration inside the building and it played live on a screen outside.

Frank Wombwell, regional fire chief, U.S. Army Garrison Japan Fire and Emergency Services, said the symposium was a great way for firefighters from all four branches of the service to get together and learn from one another.

“The relationship we have with the other branches of the service, it really needs to be there,” Wombwell said. “We need to see what’s going on with the Navy, the Marine Corps and the Air Force and then in turn, they see what’s going on with the Army.”

Yuhei Hino, regional training officer, Fire and Emergency Services, U.S. Fleet Activities Yokosuka, Japan, said firefighters cannot perform their jobs to the best of their abilities if they are not all in sync during an emergency situation.

“So events like today’s are a great opportunity for us firefighters to get to know each other and establish relationships with the other sister services,” Hino said. “From there, hopefully we’ll able to exchange techniques and skills so that each organization will be prepared for any emergency.”

Wombwell said this was the first time in 14 years that Camp Zama had hosted the symposium, and that meant many of the installation’s firefighters could participate.

One of them was Tetsuya Hamada, fire crew chief for Engine 1, Fire and Emergency Services, USAG Japan, and he said the training inspired him for rescue missions.

“One of the other firefighters told me that our job does not end when we make a hole in the wall,” Hamada said. “He said our job ends when we perform all the necessary operations in order to rescue someone in need. That resonated with me.”

Most of the firefighters at U.S. military bases in Japan are local nationals, and this was the first year that U.S. service members participated in the training, said Staff Sgt. Rico Blas Castro, assigned to the 374th Civil Engineering Squadron at Yokota Air Base, and one of the three U.S. service members who participated.

Blas Castro served as the training’s incident commander and said he learned a lot from the local-national firefighters during the training.

“It was great partnering with them and to learn their rescue skills to build our rescue skills,” Blas Castro said. “If a disaster does happen, I have full confidence in all of them and all of us that we’ll be able to work together.”

Senior Airman James Butler, also assigned to the 374th CES at Yokota, said he learned the fundamentals of cutting through concrete; the ropes and knots necessary for rescues; and how to get people out of harsh conditions.

“I know I can take this knowledge and bring it back with me and teach some of the guys so we can have some of the same wherewithal on how to do stuff and day-to-day operations as far as rescue operations like this,” Butler said. “That way we’re all on the same page as far as rescue, so it’s great.”

Col. Phillip Gage, commander of USAG Japan, and USAG Japan Command Sgt. Maj. Billy Norman visited the symposium on its first day and welcomed the nearly 100 participants.

Gage, who noted a building fire took place on Camp Zama in November 2018, thanked the firefighters for their dedication to the mission.

“Because of our fire department and also our local-national fire departments outside the gate—due to their professionalism—they saved the building very quickly and everyone was safe, so your training does pay off,” Gage said.

USS Dwight D. Eisenhower (CVN 69)

NORFOLK, VA., VA, UNITED STATES

03.18.2019

Photo by Seaman Ashley Lowe 

USS Dwight D. Eisenhower (CVN 69)  

NORFOLK, Va. (March 18, 2019) Sailors assigned to crash and salvage simulate fighting an aircraft fire during a flight deck drill aboard the aircraft carrier USS Dwight D. Eisenhower (CVN 69). Ike is undergoing a Planned Incremental Availability (PIA) at Naval Station Norfolk during the maintenance phase of the Optimized Fleet Response Plan (OFRP). (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Ashley E. Lowe)

25th Anniversary of the Green Ramp Disaster

Photo By Master Sgt. Andrew Kosterman | Paratroopers assigned to the 82nd Airborne Division place a wreath in memory of fallen Soldiers during a memorial ceremony at Fort Bragg, N.C. marking the 25th anniversary of the 1994 Green Ramp Disaster on Mar. 22, 2019. Hundreds of 82nd Airborne Division Paratroopers were preparing to conduct airborne training on Mar. 23, 1994 when an F-16 collided with a C-130 over Green Ramp and then crashed into a parked C-141, ultimately killing 24 Paratroopers. (U.S. Army photo by Master Sgt. Andrew Kosterman/82nd Airborne Division)

FORT BRAGG, NC, UNITED STATES
03.22.2019
Story by Staff Sgt. Sharon Matthias
49th Public Affairs Detachment 

Twenty-five years ago, the 82nd Airborne Division and Fort Bragg suffered its most deaths in a single day since WWII’s Battle of the Bulge.
A jet fighter crashed into a fully fueled C-141 and both aircraft exploded sending a debris-filled fireball into 500 Army Paratroopers engaged in pre-jump activities.
The 82nd Airborne Division hosted the Green Ramp Disaster Memorial Ceremony on March 22, 2019, outside the Airborne Division War Memorial at Fort Bragg, North Carolina.
The memorial ceremony commemorated the 24 paratroopers who died and over 100 who were injured on that catastrophic day.
The Commanding General, 82nd Airborne Division Maj. Gen. James J. Mingus opened the ceremony by recognizing the survivors and surviving family members of the fallen paratroopers.
“Learn from Soldiers, they will do what they were train to do and we wonder why we do battle drills” said Mingus. “Soldiers had no regards for their personal safety but only for others.”
Afterwards, Mingus recounted the events of the day as he remembered them. He described it as the perfect day for a jump before the Green Ramp disaster turned the 82nd Airborne Division’s world upside down.
Out of the disaster, strong bonds grew and paratroopers supported each other.
“We were all in Capt. James J. Mingus company, he was our company commander,” said Kevin Wilson, a former 2nd Battalion 505th Parachute Infantry Regiment paratrooper. “Four of our NCOs were lost that day and several were wounded but we stayed connected, formed (a) bond and began doing fun events together.”
Retired Lt. Col. Jay Nelson, a Green Ramp Disaster survivor and the event guest speaker, wanted audience members to walk away with a greater sense of why the memorial was necessary.
“I hope this day to remember helps to heal some of the wounds that may not have healed in these past years, said Nelson. “It is not just important, it is crucial to the survival of organizations such as the 82nd to remember their dead.”
“Not just for the immediate Families of the fallen, but for the larger Family of Paratroopers that it is,” he added.
During Nelson’s speech, he thanked the audience for joining him in honoring the memories of the fallen paratroopers.
“Then, as now, I only wish I had the words to comfort them” said Nelson. “But what I can do is honor the memories of the Paratroopers we lost here, by never forgetting their sacrifice and pausing to remember it every year at this time, thanks for helping me do that today.”

Civil Support Teams at Hamilton College

New York Army National Guard Staff Sgt. Sean Durst and Sgt. Madalena Noyes, both members of the 24th Civil Support Team, prepare to check out a suspicious truck during a nuclear, biological, chemical, radiological response drill at Hamilton College in Clinton, N.Y. on March 21, 2019. Members of the New York National Guard's 2nd and 24th Civil Support Team, the New Jersey National Guard's 21st Civil Support Team, conducted drills from March 18 to 21 at Hamilton College along with members of the New York State Police, Hamilton College Public Safety, the New York State Office of Fire Prevention and Control, and the 773rd Civil Support Team, a United States Army Reserve unit based in Germany. ( U.S. Army National Guard photo by Eric Durr)

CLINTON , NY, UNITED STATES
03.14.2019
Story by Eric Durr
New York National Guard 

CLINTON, N.Y. -- The National Guard Civil Support Team reconnaissance mission into the apartment of the suspect in a chemical weapon attack had been going well.

New York Army National Guard Staff Sgt. Kristin Northrup and Sgt. Joshua Slish, wearing protective suits and masks and breathing tanked air, had found a gun taped to the door. They’d methodically gone through two rooms and documented the scene with a camera while keeping the tactical operations center informed via radio.

Then Slish went down.

Now Northrup needed help from the rest of the New York National Guard’s 2nd Weapons of Mass Destruction Civil Support Team (CST) to get her teammate out, decontaminated, and into the hands of the 2nd CST’s physician’s assistant.

The mission shifted to casualty retrieval as Northrup and two other 2nd CST members strapped Slish into a yellow casualty evacuation sled and began moving him down the three flights of stairs.

This scenario was one of those members of the New York National Guard’s 2nd and 24th Civil Support Teams faced as they wrapped up four days of training at Hamilton College in Clinton, N.Y. on Thursday, March 21.

The four-day exercise enabled the New York National Guard’s Weapons of Mass Destruction Civil Support Team Soldiers and Airmen-- who are trained to identify nuclear, biological, chemical and radiological weapons and contamination-- to train together, while also involving other CSTs and civilian agencies.

Members of the New York National Guard's 2nd Civil Support Team begin to remove Sgt. Joshua Slish from his protective suit after he was evacuated from a dorm at Hamilton College in Clinton, N.Y. on March 21, 2019. Slish was designated a casualty during a nuclear, biological, chemical, radiological exercise. Members of the New York National Guard's 2nd and 24th Civil Support Team, the New Jersey National Guard's 21st Civil Support Team, conducted drills from March 18 to 21 at Hamilton College along with members of the New York State Police, Hamilton College Public Safety, the New York State Office of Fire Prevention and Control, and the 773rd Civil Support Team, a United States Army Reserve unit based in Germany. ( U.S. Army National Guard photo by Eric Durr)

The March 18 to 21 training also involved the New Jersey National Guard’s 21st Civil Support Team; the New York State Police Contaminated Crime Scene Emergency Response Team, called the CCSERT; the New York State Police Bomb Disposal Unit; the Federal Bureau of Investigation; the State Office of Fire Prevention and Control; and the Hamilton College Campus Safety Emergency Response Team. The 773rd Civil Support Team, a United State Army Reserve unit stationed in Germany, sent observers to the exercise to learn the New York CSTs’ tactics.

Over 100 people were involved, said Capt. Justin Kupinski, the operations officer for the 2nd Civil Support Team.

Having all these entities involved in the drill made the training more realistic and worthwhile, Kupinski added.

New York Army National Guard Staff Sgt. Sean Durst, a member of the 24th Civil Support Team, takes a break while he prepares to conduct a chemical, nuclear, biological, radiological reconnaissance drill at Hamilton College in Clinton, N.Y. on March 21, 2019. Members of the New York National Guard's 2nd and 24th Civil Support Team, the New Jersey National Guard's 21st Civil Support Team, conducted drills from March 18 to 21 at Hamilton College along with members of the New York State Police, Hamilton College Public Safety, the New York State Office of Fire Prevention and Control, and the 773rd Civil Support Team, a United States Army Reserve unit based in Germany. ( U.S. Army National Guard photo by Eric Durr)

“In the real world all these agencies would be here anyway. We need to train like we fight,” Kupinski said.

“To be able to work with the first responder community helps us to prepare for any type of WMD event, added Major Lance Woodard the 2nd CST’s deputy commander. “For me this is what we work for, what we strive for, which is to get the CSTs together collectively, and figure out how we can plan and work together.”

The Hamilton College exercises kicked off with the insertion of a 2nd CST strike team – five personnel and a specialized survey vehicle— from a CH-47 flown by members of Company B, 3rd Battalion, 126th Aviation.
Normally, the 2nd CST would deploy to Clinton from its headquarters at Stratton Air National Guard Base by vehicle, Woodard said. But deploying by CH-47 allowed the CST to validate an important procedure for air movements.

The CST members spent March 18 and 19 going through a series of interlinked scenarios in which information about a chemical attacker was developed detail by detail. They took a break on Wednesday to reset, which they used to refit and conduct after action reviews of Monday and Tuesday’s missions, and then were back in the exercise on Thursday, March 21, Kupinski said.

This is the second year Hamilton College has welcomed the 2nd CST exercise on campus. Training at the college campus is excellent because it’s the kind of location the CST could be called to, Kupinski said.

New York Army National Guard Sgt. Natasia Cooper, a member of the 2nd Civil Support Team, waits for an exercise to start at Hamiton College in Clinton, N.Y. on March 21, 2019.Members of the New York National Guard's 2nd and 24th Civil Support Team, the New Jersey National Guard's 21st Civil Support Team, conducted drills from March 18 to 21 at Hamilton College along with members of the New York State Police, Hamilton College Public Safety, the New York State Office of Fire Prevention and Control, and the 773rd Civil Support Team, a United States Army Reserve unit based in Germany. ( U.S. Army National Guard photo by Eric Durr)

Hamilton College loaned its campus as a training site over spring break because it benefits the college as well, according to Frank Coots, Hamilton College Director of Campus Safety.

“The college’s Hamilton Emergency Response Team is always looking for different ways to make training relevant and challenging,” he said.

Another plus for the Hamilton College exercise was that the 2nd CST didn’t have to use part of the team to plan the training and conduct it for rest. Instead, a company called Disaster Demons, which specializes in these exercises, was paid to create and run the training plan and scenarios.

This allows the CST to have all of its Soldiers and Airmen involved in the training, Kupinski said. This means that they can conduct multiple training scenarios at once, which helps test command and control procedures, and respond to scenarios with the total team he added.

Staff Sgt. Kristin Northrup, a CST member for four years who leads a two-person reconnaissance team, said she had been looking forward to the Hamilton College exercise. It’s larger and more challenging than other exercises, she explained.

Of course, she admitted, she wasn’t thrilled when the evaluators decided that her team mate would be a casualty.

A New York Army National Guard CH-47 helicopter assigned to Bravo Company, 3rd Battalion, 126th Aviation lands at Hamilton College in Clinton, N.Y. to drop off a "strike team" from the New York National Guard's 2nd Weapons of Mass Destruction Civil Support Team on March 18, 2019. The exercise launched a four-day series of drills involving the CST, New York State Police, Hamilton College officials, and local law enforcement. ( Photos courtesy of Hamilton College by Nancy L. Ford)

“They always pick the biggest guys,” she explained.

After wrestling Slish down three flights of college dorm stairs, she and two other CST members had to cut off his protective suit and get him on a stretcher.

That was a challenge because of the kind of suit they were wearing, Northrup said. The level A suits CST members were in completely contaminated environments—which look like a spacesuit—are easier to cut off because they fit over the breathing mask and oxygen tank CST members carry, she explained.

For Sgt. Natasia Cooper, an administrative NCO and decontamination line attendant who is new to the 2nd CST, said the week-long exercise was excellent training.

“Being able to experience the pressure, and having to maneuver through the decon and just getting hands on, has been pretty great for me,” Cooper said.

Coast Guard, Kotzebue Fire Department Ice Rescue Training

KOTZEBUE, AK, UNITED STATES
03.19.2019
Photo by Chief Petty Officer Matthew Schofield
U.S. Coast Guard District 17 

Coast Guard members from the Ninth Coast Guard District train Kotzebue Fire Department and Coast Guard Seventeenth District personnel on ice rescue techniques and best practices Tuesday, in Kotzebue, Alaska. The Ninth Coast Guard District's Ice Rescue Program oversees the National Ice Rescue School, which conducts training annually throughout the country. U.S. Coast Guard photo by Chief Petty Officer Matthew Schofield.