CAMP ATTERBURY, Ind. –
When disaster strikes and chaos sets in, people forget their cities’ emergency evacuation plans and highways get stacked with traffic. People get hurt and communication gets cut off.
Vibrant Response 17, or VR17, is a command post exercise that simulates the detonation of a nuclear bomb in a major city within the United States. The annual exercise takes place at Camp Atterbury, Ind. This year it was integrated with Guardian Response 17, or GR17, at Muscatatuck Urban Training Center, also in Indiana.
The exercises enable emergency response organizations, both civilian and military, how to integrate and provide relief during a catastrophic disaster.
The simulated detonation occurred May 2. Following the established national response framework, the state first responders and National Guard forces answered the first calls for help.
As the situation escalated and resources were exhausted, the state requested federal support. Again, based on the federal response framework, the first agencies to respond are civilian agencies. Support from the Department of Defense is then requested as necessary. Task Force 76, or TF-76, arrived at the scene four days after the notional detonation.
Once at the scene, TF-76 provided support to the incident commander, state and Federal Emergency Management Agency, or FEMA, in several areas. TF-76 assisted with urban search and rescue, extractions, and mass casualty decontamination. It also provided transportation assets for patient evacuation and resupply via ground and air. The task force brought with it the capability to produce water and have operational, medical and logistical forces.
“We hope that we never have to use these assets, but if we do, we want the Soldiers to know, through these type of exercises, that they are fully capable of performing the mission at call,” said Brig. Gen. James Blakenhorn, TF-76 deputy commanding general.
The task force is made up of people assigned to the 76th Operational Readiness Command, a Reserve unit out of Salt Lake City.
The task force gains two main things out of this training event, Blakenhorn said,
First, it exercises the higher staffs to ensure they have processes, procedures, interfaces and communications established and ready to execute. Secondly, it gives the folks in the field at GR17 confidence in their abilities to perform the mission. It also provides units with the confidence in their equipment, procedures and leadership to become more proficient.
During a catastrophic event such as VR17, FEMA is the primary federal agency requesting support from TF-76 and another task force (TF-46) from the Michigan National Guard’s 46th Military Police Command.
Master Sgt. Trevor Smith, TF-76 future operations noncommissioned officer in charge, said FEMA can send down specific mission requests, or MAs, for support such as supplies, transportation and decontamination.
Following those initial requests from FEMA, the headquarters for TF-76 or TF-46 develop plans of action through daily meetings and updated fragmentary orders. Once each task force knows its mission, commanders disseminate orders for their Soldiers to execute the mission.
These and other processes require time and practice to perfect. Training together in exercises like these prepares leaders and Soldiers when called upon in a real-world scenario, where the mission is to save lives and mitigate the suffering of the people of the United States.
“We always plan this exercise as if the worst had happened, however, what’s great about our mission is that it doesn’t have to be a nuclear detonation for us to get involved,” Blakenhorn said. “The catastrophe could be something like a hurricane or a wildland fire. There’s a number of natural disasters that can cause a great deal of pain and suffering where federal forces may be required.
“Due to the experience the Soldiers get here at this level, they also know they can perform if they were called up for some of these other missions as well,” Blakenhorn added.