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In a room full of computers and ringing phones, members of the
white cell team stand watching the movements of Vigilant Guard 2016
play out on the two drop screens while assessing their own tasks at
hand at Northfield, Vt. July 29, 2016. The exercise playmakers work
within the white cell components to carry out the tasks assigned as
part of the national exercise program known as a Vigilant Guard.
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July 29, 2016 - Both civilian and military agency members of the
white cell team coordinate plans during Vigilant Guard 2016 in
Northfield, VT. Vigilant Guard is a national level emergency
response exercise, sponsored by the National Guard and NORTHCOM,
which provides National Guard units an opportunity to improve
cooperation and relationships with regional civilian, military, and
federal partners in preparation for emergencies and catastrophic
events. (U.S. Air National Guard photo by Tech. Sgt. Chelsea Clark)
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There are three main elements to the white cell. There is
an overarching control cell, a higher control (HICON) and a
lower control (LOCON) component comprised of various
agencies. The HICON consists of state and federal agencies,
nonprofit government agencies and local/regional
municipalities reporting simulations and the LOCON is
derived by primarily military support elements who simulate
subordinate measures including additional troop support,
logistics, situation reports, inputs on scenario injects and
representatives from multiple military components.
"The White Cell brings the overhead higher commands from
authorities, working together to provide the play input for the
folks working through the exercise,” explains U.S. Army Col. Ray
Bouchard, director of J7 Joint Training Exercises & Education,
exercise director for white cell, Joint Force Headquarters, Vermont
National Guard, “It helps control the flow, provide the guidance and
the challenges for the planners that are working on the ground, the
staffs, and the folks that are working at the lanes, doing the FTX
(field training exercise) piece. You really have two pieces, the FTX
where individual soldiers and airmen are on the ground working
through the exercise, then the CPX (command post exercise) component
where the staffers, the Joint Task Force and the Joint Force
Headquarters are working on planning and how to bring in these
outside assets to help work the disaster in support.”
Bouchard also spoke to how the white cell controls the pace and
intensity of the exercise. The members keep attempting to resolve
the confusion of the simulated scenarios that they inject out into
the field. The idea is to positively stress the exercising
components within Vigilant Guard and create a more prepared task
force in the event of a real disaster of regional size.
The
scenarios are processed through a Master Scenario Events List
(MSEL), which are then injected throughout the exercise. Each event
is specifically analyzed and handled by the white cell.
Retired Army Col. Anne Young, a key white cell agent, annotates the
scenario injects.
“The MSEL which is more than 1200 (events)
now and it ranges from the very smallest to the very large. It's
putting in play what they need to do, and checking back to make sure
they did what they needed to. It's a lot of role playing to give
them a feel for real world scenario.”
Vigilant Guard is
continuously evolving within each region, but the foundations and
lessons learned are beneficial for future exercises. Nearly every
three-and-a-half years, each state works within their Federal
Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) region on a Vigilant Guard. The
Maine National Guard worked a recent Vigilant Guard in November
2013, where Vermont National Guard project managers began their
planning for this year's exercise. The Vermont National Guard in
collaboration with NORTHCOM is sponsoring Vigilant Guard 2016. They
followed a series of major meeting workshops and extensive planning
began 18 months ago.
Young discusses the communication and
planning process along the way.
"I think it's been a
tremendous learning experience for everybody involved. On the
National Guard side, (it's been) getting to know more in-depth the
plans and objectives of what the civilians (agencies) are looking
for, and for the other state agencies to learn what we (National
Guard) can and can't do. The cooperation from the beginning has been
absolutely fantastic, we've been planning side-by-side.”
As a
member of the Homeland Response Force, Region 1, Massachusetts
National Guard, U.S. Army Capt. Shawn Baran was assessing
capabilities and role playing with numbers of responders to a given
inject. He explains the process as he sees it.
“Remaining
Vigilant at all times, to respond to any attack. That's what we are
exercising, the processes, the communications, and the who, what,
where, when, and why and how to do it.... The white cell really
controls that on an inject level. We make up scenarios and they push
them out to the field and then we conduct an AAR (after action
report), and they learn what they did wrong and how to fix it.”
As Vigilant Guard 2016 continues, there are several states
shadowing the process that will soon host their own Vigilant Guard
in the near future. The white cell invites each state to view the
operations within each white cell component and share planning
documents upon completion of the exercise. They also offer their
knowledge in an open dialogue assembly after the final missions are
achieved.
By U.S. Air National Guard Tech. Sgt. Chelsea Clark
Provided
through DVIDS
Copyright 2016
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