Texas' Elite Response Team Trains for Mission-Readiness
(July 26, 2010) |
|
| | (July 22, 2010) -- The 6th Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear, and High
Yield Explosive Enhanced Response Force Package (CERFP) represents Texas'
support to civil authorities in mass decontamination, urban search and
extraction, and medical support. Following the immediate response efforts of the
6th Civil Support Team, which arrives within an hour of an incident, the CERFP
assumes expanded support roles during hours six through 72 after the initial
call. |
For two weeks in July, they trained, exercised, and
certified in Volk Field, Wis., to achieve the Army standard
of full certification and mission-readiness.
Composed of the 836th Engineer Company, the 436th Chemical
Company, and the Small Portable Expeditionary Aeromedical
Rapid Response, which includes three Air Force Medical
Units, the 149th Fighter Wing, 136th Airlift Wing, and 147th
Reconnaissance Wing, the 6th CERFP spent the first week
battling new training environments as well as adverse
weather conditions. |
|
The 436th Chemical Company suits up for
the day's training for the CREFP Evaluation on July 15,
2010. |
|
This bad weather halted training for a day on the 14th, but
that didn't slow down the outfit, which began training early
the next morning. |
|
"Today we're real excited, we're going to be full force to
ensure the troops maximize their training," said 1st Sgt.
Paul Torres of the 436th Chemical Company from Laredo,
Texas.
The 836th and the 436th have both recently come back from
overseas deployments. Committed to excellence, the 6th CERFP
regrouped immediately and started training for
certification. In less than a year, they accomplished what
normally takes years of training for other CERFP teams,
according to Maj. Gen. Jose S. Mayorga, the Texas Adjutant
General.
"I feel extremely confident that they're going to be able to
respond to any event, any disaster," said Mayorga.
The certification in Wisconsin tested the CERFP's speed,
skill sets and cooperation in a series of joint exercises
simulating a real-life contamination emergency. The separate
elements of the CERFP worked together to combat a single
threat, coordinating their respective duties of extraction,
decontamination, medical, and command and control.
"Those are the crucial seconds in an event for a CERFP that
lives are wasted," said 1st Lt. Joseph Meller, executive
officer of the 836th Engineer Company from Kingsville,
Texas. "It's critical that we get down there and that we
operate efficiently in order to save lives."
The 836th, responsible for search and extraction, trained
for 12 hours a day in Wisconsin to become mission ready for
certification. The 436th focused on their setup time each
day to ensure they came under the 90-minute standard for
establishing the decontamination line to begin receiving and
treating casualties.
"We had an after action review to identify our shortcomings
and our deficiencies," said Meller. "Basically, our
weaknesses and where we can improve and strengthen those
weaknesses, and refine them for our EXEVAL."
The SPEARR, as a trained medical asset, excelled at
performing their medical duties in concert with the
extraction and decontamination efforts of their sister
units.
"This is the same as our wartime mission and our peacetime
mission so we're trained up for this 100 percent of the
time," said Air Force Master Sgt. Faith Elmore of the 147th
Medical Group from San Antonio, Texas.
The SPEARR team has responded to disasters in the past, such
as hurricanes Katrina, Rita, Gustav and Ike, aiding the
casualties of the affected sites.
The certification process takes three full days of
progressive simulations, starting with a slow-paced crawl
through the motions. Observer/Controllers spend day one
pacing the CERFP through a complete exercise, employing all
their resources in response to a hazardous threat. The
following day, the CERFP takes the lead in walking through
the steps, under the direct supervision and guidance of the
OCs. Finally, on day three, the official certification event
occurs, during which the CERFP acts completely independently
in response to a full-scale, mass casualty simulation.
All three components of the CERFP must achieve their
respective objectives in order for the full asset to gain
certification. With the pressure high and troops motivated
to succeed, they engaged their scenario with expert
precision and accuracy. On July 20, 2010, Texas' 6th CERFP
became one of only 17 elements of its kind in the U.S. to
successfully complete the Army standards for emergency
response force packages."I feel much more at rest," said
Meller, "knowing that these guys would be the guys that
would pull out my family." |
Article and photo by Army Cpl. Maxiliano Garza
100th Mobile Public Affairs Detachment
Copyright 2010 | |
Provided
through DVIDS
Comment on this article |
|
