Thousands train during nuclear-bomb scenarios for Vibrant Response

A UH-60 Blackhawk helicopter from Company B, 2nd Battalion, 147th Aviation Regiment, based out of Frankfort, Ky., fills up during water bucket firefighting training at Muscatatuck Urban Training Center in Butlerville, Ind., during Vibrant Response, Aug. 6, 2013. (Photo by Sgt. 1st Class Brad Staggs, Atterbury-Muscatatuck Public Affairs)

By Capt. Daniel VanHorn,  2/138th Field Artillery

CAMP ATTERBURY, Ind. (8/13/13) - How would state and federal agencies react if a nuclear bomb detonated in two major metropolitan areas? Similar scenarios played out across Indiana, where Soldiers from the Kentucky National Guard's 63rd Theater Aviation Brigade conducted their annual two-week training, as part of an exercise called Vibrant Response.

Exercise Vibrant Response is a major homeland emergency response exercise conducted by U.S. Northern Command.

The exercise was facilitated by approximately 5,700 service members and civilians from federal and state agencies throughout the country. They trained at Camp Atterbury Joint Maneuver Training Center near Edinburgh, Ind. and Muscatatuck Urban Training Center near Butlerville, Ind., as well as throughout Southern Indiana to respond to a catastrophic domestic incident.

Col. Michael Ferguson, Commander of the 63rd TAB, has been preparing his brigade for this mission for the past year. He understands the importance this training is for real-life disasters his Soldiers might have to face.

"Our goal is to respond with speed and accuracy and be at the right place and right time to save lives," he said. "Aviation assets are crucial when it comes to casualty evacuations and disaster area assessments and they can get in and out faster than any other available asset."

Over the last four years, the 63rd has participated in five large-scale scenarios similar to this one, as part of their validation requirements by their higher headquarters, U.S. Army North.

The brigade currently has one of the missions as a dedicated response force to provide command and control of aviation assets for Joint Task Force-Civil Support, the unit charged with heading up the Department of Defense response in the event of a major catastrophe.

Camp Atterbury, Ind., Aug.2, 2013. A variety of Kentucky National Guard units worked to support each other as part of Exercise Vibrant Response in (?-LVH)

According to Warrant Officer Brandon Kruchinski, a UH-60 Blackhawk pilot with B Company, 2-147th Assault Company, the exercise provided valuable opportunities to hone their skills in a variety of tasks.

"It's been good experience working hand in hand with various agencies,"  Kruchinski said. "We can use this training to become better at responding to a disaster. The real-world training is valuable because it allows us to cross-train with other agencies."

Pilots were not the only Soldiers benefiting from the scale of the exercise.

The 351st Aviation Support Company, out of Frankfort, Ky., consists of numerous mobile maintenance facilities that can be packed and shipped to any location. Each container weighs about 15,000 pounds and has every tool needed to conduct repairs on downed or deadlines aviation assets. The systems are designed to be transported on the highway within hours of notification.

According to 1st Sgt. Timothy Porter, the 351st is comprised of more than 70 Soldiers who usually learn about helicopter maintenance by reading equipment and maintenance manuals. With the exercise underway, they have been able to work on Indiana's dead-lined UH-60 helicopters.
"Conducting maintenance on the Indiana National Guard aviation assets allows our Soldiers to become validated on actual helicopters while gaining experience with transporting our mobile shop systems," said Porter.

Vibrant Response has provided a wide variety of training experiences to Soldiers of the Kentucky National Guard.

Often the exercise uses units from across the country and other assets in order to accomplish their training. This year, the 63rd deployed with its subordinate units from within the Commonwealth. The UH-60 Blackhawk unit, Bravo Co. 2-147, the OH-58 Kiowa unit, Charlie Co. 1-376th and support units, the 1204th Aviation Support Battalion and Bravo  Co.,  351st Aviation were all on the ground throughout Southern Indiana providing real-time mission support to all the players involved in the exercise. The aviation units even partnered up with the 138th Signal Company out of Lexington, Ky., to provide actual signal support to all the deployed units, which showcased a great partnership between the major support commands of the Kentucky Guard.
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"This exercise will enable Kentucky aviators to be prepared to respond with great efficiency to a variety of situations," said Ferguson. "Our Guardsmen are one of Kentucky's finest assets."

Hurricane Hunters track Isaac as SOUTHCOM, NORTHCOM prepare

by Donna Miles, American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON (AFPS) -- With Tropical Storm Isaac bearing down on the Dominican Republic and Haiti and threatening to strengthen over the eastern Caribbean, the "Hurricane Hunters" from the Air Force Reserve's 53rd Weather Reconnaissance Squadron are in the air, relaying critical data to National Weather Service forecasters in Miami.

Meanwhile, staffs at both the U.S. Southern and Northern Commands are monitoring the storm closely and ensuring they are ready to provide support to civilian authorities, including the U.S. Agency for International Development and Federal Emergency Management Agency.

Three six-person crews from the 53rd WRS and their maintainers and support staff deployed to St. Croix from Keesler Air Force Base, Miss., last weekend, Air Force Lt. Col. Jon Talbot, the squadron's chief meteorologist, told American Forces Press Service. Operating out of the international airport there, they began flying their specially equipped C-130J Hercules aircraft through the storm Aug. 21.

On a typical mission that can run up to 12 hours, the aircrews crisscross the storm in what the teams call an "alpha pattern," he explained. Sophisticated onboard instruments and small canisters dropped by parachute to the ocean's surface collect accurate measurements of the storm's location and intensity.

That information is fed continuously to the National Hurricane Center via an onboard satellite link. In addition, the aircraft sends automated messages every 10 minutes, relaying barometric pressure, wind speed and direction, and other measurements.

"The reason this data is critical is because, with satellites, you can track where storms are and get a general picture, but you can't peer into the storm and physically measure what is happening at the ocean's surface," Talbot said. "That is the important piece of information you need to know when it comes to providing warnings to the public. The emergency management community needs to know what is going on near the surface of the ocean, because those are the winds that are going to come ashore."

With about six missions already under their belts during the past three days, Talbot said, the pace will pick up considerably as Isaac moves west toward the United States. "Currently, we are doing about three missions a day, but that will go up to four or five when the storm comes within 300 miles of the U.S. coastline," he said.

The Hurricane Hunters expect to move west along with the storm, redeploying to Keesler Air Force Base to resume those missions beginning this weekend. In the event that the crews have to evacuate Keesler, Talbot said, they already have alternate operating sites lined up. "We track these things pretty closely, because if we end up having to jump from here, we still have to continue flying and providing that data while we are evacuating our own resources," he said. "It becomes a big, tangled web, but it always works out pretty well."

As a precaution, aircraft and ships are being moved out of the storm's possible path and other assets are being secured, according to Southcom spokesman Army Lt. Col. Darryl Wright. Planning teams are busy running rehearsal meetings and preparing to verify personnel and resource requests, if USAID issues them, he said.

Wright emphasized that military support, if provided, would be part of a coordinated U.S. response led by civilian authorities. "We conduct close coordination and planning and provide DOD support to relief efforts upon request," he said. "Through this close coordination, we ensure that we respond with the most efficient means available to the U.S. government."

In terms of disaster response, Wright said efficiency is typically more important than speed in reducing suffering and saving lives.

Northcom, too, is in a monitoring mode. But with the storm expected to intensify late this weekend when it hits the Atlantic and the Florida Straits, the command deployed a defense coordinating officer and element to Puerto Rico on Aug. 20 to support FEMA, John Cornelio, Northcom's media operations chief, told American Forces Press Service.

The element of about 20 people is assessing the situation and standing ready to provide assistance, if requested. "We have learned the value of being forward enough to cut down on the response time, if required," Cornelio said.

With Isaac's path still anyone's guess, officials say it's too soon to know whether it will hit Tampa, site of next week's Republican National Convention. Northcom has a team deployed there to support the Secret Service during the convention, Cornelio reported.