Colorado National Guard to facilitate 'Vigilant Guard' exercise

CENTENNIAL, Colo. (7/19/13) - The Colorado National Guard will facilitate a large-scale, multi-state, multi-agency emergency response exercise in the Denver and Colorado Springs metropolitan areas July 22-26.

Named "Vigilant Guard," the exercise is focused on interagency coordination in preparation for domestic emergencies and catastrophic events.

The exercise scenario, which has been in planning since 2011, is based on a wildland fire with urban interface, and will include severe weather including tornadoes.
Just as they would in real life, these notional events will create a number of consequences that will require emergency intervention.

Participants will exercise their knowledge of and expertise in storm damage assessment; hazmat identification, abatement and decontamination; search and rescue; patient extraction; triage; medevac and other emergency-response measures.

Sponsored by U.S. Northern Command in conjunction with the National Guard Bureau, the exercise will provide the Colorado National Guard and supporting military units an opportunity to improve cooperation and operational relationships with their local, state, private sector, non-governmental organizations and federal partners.

National Guard units from Colorado, Arizona, Idaho, New Mexico, Nevada, North Dakota, Utah and Wyoming will be participating.

Locations for the exercise will be:

July 22: Colorado National Guard Joint Operations Center, Fort Carson Airfield and U.S. Air Force Academy Fire Department

July 23 Media Day: Colorado National Guard Joint Operations Center, North Metro Fire Training Complex, Denver Health Medical Center, Community College of Aurora, Exempla St. Joseph Hospital and Bonfils Blood Center

More specific details about this day, including the most visually stimulating events and times, will be released separately.

July 24: Colorado National Guard Joint Operations Center, North Metro Fire Training Complex, West Metro Fire Training Center, North Suburban Medical Center, University of Denver, Denver International Airport, Community College of Aurora

July 25: Colorado National Guard Joint Operations Center, North Metro Fire Training Complex, Porter Adventist Hospital, Pepsi Center, Dick’s Sporting Goods Park
July 26: Colorado National Guard Joint Operations Center

Vigilant Guard exercise ends as "successful mission"

By Cpl. Clay Beyersdorfer Missouri National Guard

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. - The Missouri National Guard's Vigilant Guard training exercise concluded Wednesday, after a five day period that was a response to a simulated earthquake that took place along the New Madrid fault line.

Vigilant Guard was a worst-case scenario natural disaster exercise that was a response to the last ten years in the state of Missouri, which saw flooding, ice storms and the Joplin tornado, said Maj. Gen. Stephen L. Danner, adjutant general of the Missouri National Guard.

"More than 4,600 Soldiers, Airmen and civilian partners participated in this exercise, which is one of the largest Missouri has ever organized," Danner said. "It was an outstanding opportunity for our force to test our processes and capabilities. The Missouri National Guard is the most seasoned, battle-tested force we've ever fielded, but we are always looking for ways to
improve ourselves so we can better serve the state."

Col. William Blaylock, the Director of Strategic Plan and Exercises for the Missouri National Guard, was also pleased with the results of the Vigilant Guard exercise.

"From a soldier-standpoint and even the civilians, we have had tremendous cooperation and participation," Blaylock said. "Missouri Guard soldiers and soldiers in general are trained to rise to the occasion when orders are not given, and everyone has done a great job in that sense."

In Columbia, Soldiers and Airmen worked alongside civilian agencies including Missouri Task Force 1, a FEMA urban search and rescue team, to practice skills including search and extraction and decontamination. The training was especially realistic because it included role players who acted as victims.

The teams in Columbia reported to the Guard's Joint Operations Center, or, JOC, in Jefferson City. The JOC is the central nerve hub of the Missouri National Guard. Danner recently expanded the JOC to give the Soldiers, Airmen and civilians working within a more effective working environment.
Vigilant Guard was the Guard's first opportunity to utilize the new facility, said Maj. Brett Cooper, chief of current operations in the Joint Operations Center.

"It was a wise decision to move from what we were using previously to where we are today," Cooper said. "It's really going to benefit the citizens, which is ultimately why we're here and why we're working together today."

Columbia saw a variety of staged missions, including search and rescue from destroyed buildings, decontamination from chemical waste outbreak, as well as medical treatment tents for civilian who were suffering from different injuries sustained due to the mock earthquake.

In Jefferson City, the 1438th Engineer Company completed a successful bridge building exercise along the river, which saw pieces of bridging be loaded into the water, and be pieced together.

The unit also completed a similar exercise the previous day at the Macon Training Site.

Similar missions also took place around the southeastern portion of the state, which is where the mock 6.7 magnitude earthquake took place.

Not only were Guardsmen working hard to support the simulated exercise, but members of the 735th Field Service Company Family Readiness Group worked to secure supplies for those participating in Vigilant Guard, coordinating donations from multiple vendors that were sold at the training exercises in Columbia, to help raise money for Missouri Guardsmen and their families.

"Our job as soldiers in the Missouri National Guard is to protect and defend this state, and this exercise is training for that mission," Blaylock said. "We work with civilians and other state agencies to ensure we are protecting and taking care of the citizens of the state of Missouri."

Air Force participates in joint homeland defense exercise

by Mary McHale, AFNORTH Public Affairs

TYNDALL AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. (AFNS) -- A variety of military and federal organizations participated in a first-of-its-kind homeland defense event Nov. 7 as part of the Joint-Deployable Integrated Air and Missile Defense field training exercise conducted in Key West, Fla.

According to Maj. Greg Lewis, the chief of command and control, weapons and tactics, this portion of the Vigilant Shield 12 exercise was the first time live flying in defense of the homeland was integrated into a scenario involving missile defense of North America.

"The J-DIAMD concept is designed to enhance our ability to defend the homeland," said Brig. Gen. Christopher Coates, deputy commander of the exercise. "The strength of J-DIAMD is that it provides commanders with real-time information to enable decision makers to make informed decisions using the best available sensors and shooter assets to resolve threat situations."

Exercise participants included representatives from the 601st Air and Space Operations Center, 263rd Army Air and Missile Defense Command, Fleet Forces, Air Combat Command, Air Force Space Command, the Federal Aviation Administration and the Missile Defense Agency.

"There was a tremendous amount of integration from all involved," Lewis said, who added that planning for the exercise began approximately nine months ago. "That we did this successfully for the first time sets the future for where we are going to go in integrating air and missile defense."

Navy Capt. Ron Page, the test director for the J-DIAMDS FTX, echoed that sentiment.

"This exercise helps every military branch involved in synchronization efforts," Page said. "It is how things will be done in the next generation."

NORTHCOM's Vigilant Shield 12 exercise launched Nov. 1 and continued through Nov. 10, combining field and command post exercises to train NORTHCOM and North American Aerospace Defense Command staffs in homeland defense and homeland security processes, Lt. Alain Blondin of the Canadian navy, a command spokesman, told American Forces Press Service.

"The scenario for the exercise is based on potential military threats to the United States and Canada that require extensive military planning to provide a range of military options to our national leadership," said Army Gen. Charles H. Jacoby Jr., Northcom and NORAD commander, in a blog announcing the exercise.

Northcom's operations center at Peterson Air Force Base, Colo., working in coordination with a joint deployable integrated air and missile defense system and elements of a logistics support facility dispatched to Naval Air Station Key West, are testing their capabilities against simulated enemy attacks, Blondin said.

Although most of the scenarios are classified, Blondin said, they involved "the full spectrum of threats," including simulated terrorist attacks.

To increase the realism of the scenarios and test the ability of federal, state and international partners to provide a synchronized response to homeland threats, Vigilant Shield planners have piggybacked on other training exercises.

For example, routine training flights under way across the Washington, D.C., region tested NORTHCOM's and NORAD's ability to coordinate with the Department of Homeland Security and Federal Aviation Administration, among other federal agencies.

This year's Vigilant Shield was linked to two other concurrent exercises: Vigilant Guard Arizona and Determined Dragon. Vigilant Guard Arizona, a joint regional exercise sponsored by NORTHCOM and the National Guard Bureau, is designed to improve military processes, procedures and coordination with state and local responders, officials said. Canada Command conducted Determined Dragon to test the readiness of Canadian forces at the national level.

NORAD, USNORTHCOM to hold homeland defense, security exercise

PETERSON AIR FORCE BASE, Colo. - The North American Aerospace Defense Command and U.S. Northern Command annual Homeland Defense exercise is scheduled for Nov. 1-10.

VIGILANT SHIELD 12 is a joint exercise supported by the Joint Coalition Warfare Center and conducted as a command post exercise with a supporting field training exercise in Key West. It’s linked to the Canada Command exercise DETERMINED DRAGON, and runs concurrently with exercise VIGILANT GUARD Arizona.

The overall exercise scenario for VS 12 is based on potential threats to the U.S. and Canada that require extensive military planning to support national objectives and provide multiple military options to the national leadership.

VIGILANT GUARD Arizona is a joint regional exercise sponsored by USNORTHCOM in conjunction with the National Guard Bureau. VG Arizona is designed to improve military processes, procedures and coordination with state and local responders. A primary objective for USNORTHCOM in this exercise is to practice dual status command where an Arizona National Guard officer will assume command over both the National Guard and active-duty forces in Arizona.

USNORTHCOM will also send a Joint Deployable Integrated Air and Missile Defense system and elements of a logistics support facility to Naval Air Station Key West to participate in the VS 12 Field Training Exercise. The event will include Navy ships, Army ground-based radar and missile systems, and Air Force, Coast Guard and Navy aircraft. A primary objective for this exercise is to have air, land and sea forces coordinate their activities to provide a comprehensive, robust aerospace defense capability against multiple threat scenarios at a forward deployed location.

Exercise Vigilant Guard in NY State Starts Nov 1

For milcom monitors in the Empire State -- Vigilant Guard will begin November 1!

Vigilant Guard is an annual joint civilian and military response exercise which allows civilian and military first-responders to practice life-saving skills.

The scenario this year is a national earthquake and the week-long exercise will be held at the Spaulding Fiber Plant in Tonawanda, NY November 1-6.

It gets a bit hectic, so it will not be open directly to the public but civilian media are invited and encouraged to come.

More details at http://www.dmna.state.ny.us/blog/journal.php?journal=1254502561

NORAD and USNORTHCOM exercise starts tomorrow

PETERSON AFB, Colo. – North American Aerospace Defense Command and U.S. Northern Command are planning to conduct a combined exercise June 18 - 24 that will incorporate several military exercises with a National Guard exercise. These linked exercises are referred to as ARDENT SENTRY 09. Events will take place in multiple venues across the country including Iowa, Kansas, Oregon, Wyoming, and off the East and West Coasts.

The exercise will allow several Department of Defense organizations and some federal and state partners to implement plans and respond to a variety of notional events. Historically, exercises like these have helped both DoD and other agencies review their processes and procedures and focus their future training efforts on closing gaps and identifying areas that need additional attention.

Major AS 09 venues include:

■ NORAD’s AMALGAM DART exercise involving air defense activities at Camp Rilea, Oregon;

■ The National Guard’s VIGILANT GUARD exercise focused on civil support with major activities in Des Moines, Iowa and Topeka, Kansas; and,

■ A Nuclear Weapons Incident exercise (NUWAIX) with a U.S. Air Force response near Cheyenne, Wyoming;

The activities in the vicinity of Camp Rilea will involve the deployment of an Army National Guard ground-based air defense system that will be integrated with Air Force airborne systems (AWACS and fighters) and a Navy Aegis Destroyer

Disaster Preparedness Exercise Trains 500 Guardsmen in Puerto Rico

By Army Staff Sgt. S. Patrick McCollum, Special to American Forces Press Service

PONCE, Puerto Rico - An underwater earthquake triggers a tsunami as a terrorist cell is discovered producing dangerous chemicals. If there was a time to call the National Guard, this is it.

Fortunately, these scenarios are only a simulation at Vigilant Guard 2009, an exercise under way here that tests the capabilities of more than 500 Guard members from five states and territories to handle disasters and cooperate with federal, state and local partners.

The two scenarios are the main focus of the exercise. In the first, which began yesterday and ends today, Guard members from the civil support teams of the Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico assist civil authorities in identifying and containing chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear threats. The teams take turns arriving on the scene of a nonfunctioning oil refinery, stocked with suspected weapons of mass destruction by the 35th CST from West Virginia.

In the other scenario occurring today, Guard members from the Puerto Rico National Guard and Arizona Air National Guard Expeditionary Medical Support systems will assist in casualty evacuation and treatment in field hospitals.

"To be part of an exercise of this magnitude is an honor and exciting," said Capt. Aesha Rivers, acting commander of the 23rd CST from the Virgin Islands. "It's great to be able to come here in their home to help."

In the real-world-scenario feel of Vigilant Guard, Rivers saw the opportunity to help a neighbor in need, and with that the implied promise of help in return.

"If we have an incident in the Virgin Islands, we will call 22nd CST out of Puerto Rico," Rivers said. "We will call Florida. We will call Georgia. Those are our sister and brother states."

For the Guard members of Puerto Rico's 22nd CST, the exercise is a chance to improve upon training that so far has involved few of these large-scale exercises.

"This training is ... important for us," Army Staff Sgt. Edwin Rosa, a team chief with the 23rd CST from Puerto Rico, said. "It's realistic, and we will learn from this experience."

MD Guard Vigilant in Homeland Defense Exercise

BY Maj. Kristine Henry, Maryland National Guard

Members of the 32nd Civil Support Team of the Maryland National Guard suit up to perform simulated hazardous material recovery operations during Exercise Vigilant Guard in downtown Baltimore. (Photo by Maryland National Guard)

BALTIMORE (Maryland National Guard, Sept. 19, 2007) - Soldiers of the Maryland National Guard's 115th Military Police Battalion were among the first troops securing the scene at the Pentagon on Sept. 11, 2001, and six years later, some of these same Soldiers are fully engaged in a homeland defense exercise aimed at preparing for a potential repeat of that day's events - training they hope never to use.

It's called Exercise Vigilant Guard, and it's an annual training exercise sponsored by the National Guard Bureau at locations across the country. One such exercise took place in Maryland Sept. 5-7.

"Exercises such as Vigilant Guard ensure the National Guard is as prepared as possible in order to respond to any contingency that may occur," said Maj. Gen. Bruce F. Tuxill, the adjutant general of Maryland. "Having Soldiers and Airmen who are trained, equipped and ready for domestic emergencies is at the heart of the National Guard mission."

The terrorist attack scenario unfolded over the course of the three-day exercise. The first two days were played out on computer screens and communication equipment at the Joint Operations Center at Camp Fretterd Military Reservation in Reisterstown, Md., primarily testing the Maryland Guard's ability to coordinate and interoperate with other state and local agencies.

Using simulated reports - "notional injects" in exercise parlance - from a variety of sources, the scenario unfolded. First a truck bomb collapsed a span of the Woodrow Wilson Bridge during rush hour traffic. Next, a bomb exploded on a rail line, derailing a train near the Baltimore-Washington International Airport. As public concern spread, traffic approached gridlock and telephone lines become overwhelmed. Suspected terrorists next fired an anti-tank rocket at a train in downtown Baltimore, followed by a shoot-out with city police who found a suspicious white powder in their vehicle near the M&T Bank Stadium.

With local responders overwhelmed, the situation became serious enough to require military assistance, and Gov. Martin O'Malley called out the National Guard.

The third day of events was no longer just notional; it was full of action as National Guard troops, Baltimore City Police Department, Baltimore City Fire Department and other local first responders swung into action and actually implemented their response in downtown Baltimore.

A cloud of debris rose from a parking lot in downtown Baltimore as Maryland National Guard UH-60 Blackhawk helicopters landed near the stadium and began to disperse Soldiers from the 115th Military Police Battalion's Initial Reaction Force. Soon the Guardsman had assessed the situation and deployed their forces, setting up checkpoints and patrolling the streets.

Meanwhile, Soldiers and Airmen of 32nd Civil Support Team, who specialize in detecting nuclear, biological and chemical weapons, donned blue HAZMAT suits and attempted to analyze materials at the scene.

For added realism, the whole operation was under the scrutiny of "mock media" - reporters and news cameramen played by members of the Maryland National Guard and the Maryland Emergency Management Agency.

As the military police and HAZMAT teams worked to contain the situation, members of the 29th Mobile Public Affairs Detachment and the 175th Wing formed a Joint Media Operations Center to respond to reporters' questions and increase the flow of information to a worried public.

In the end, the scene was secured and the threat identified.

More important, the goal of the exercise was achieved: to prepare for the worst. As Vigilant Guard came to a close, Col. Pete Hinz, the Joint Task Force commander, reflected on the overall intent of the exercise.

"Although this was a National Guard Bureau sponsored event, Vigilant Guard really encapsulated some of Gov. O'Malley's 12 Homeland Security Goals. Three of the main goals we exercised here today were interoperability among many of the first responders, hazardous material recovery and training, training, training," Col. Hinz said.

"We have learned a lot from this exercise and will use these lessons learned to continue to improve our homeland readiness here in Maryland."