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Tyndall’s first responders tested along with local agencies

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. Timothy R. Capling
  • 325th Fighter Wing Public Affairs
TYNDALL AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. --  First responders from Mexico Beach and Port St. Joe, Fla. joined forces with Tyndall Air Force Base's fire department, security forces and support agencies to test accident response skills during an exercise in Mexico Beach Tuesday.

The exercise began at 8:45 a.m. with an in-flight emergency that transitioned into a simulated F-15 crash in a wooded area next to U.S. Highway 98.

Six minutes after the incident occurred, Tyndall AFB's fire trucks arrived on scene and joined up with Mexico Beach's fire department for the response.

Once on scene, civilian and military firefighters faced a mock crash complete with jet debris and flaming steel barrels, making the exercise as realistic as possible.

The local police, along with Tyndall AFB's security forces, set up a cordon around the affected area and treated everything as if it was really happening by keeping all non-essential personnel out of the danger zone-with the exception of exercise evaluators and local news agencies that were covering the event.

There were also exercise players acting on scene to prepare the exercisers for all possible scenarios.

Panama City News Herald writer and Gulf Defender editor, Jonas Hogg played the part of an aggressive media member.

"It was pretty fun coming at things from a different angle them I'm used to," Mr. Hogg said. "It was a good chance to have fun with it. If there was a real plane down, I probably wouldn't have pressed my luck with the security forces like I did here today."

Behind the scenes at the installation control center, Brig. Gen. Tod D. Wolters, 325th Fighter Wing commander, provided command and support to the initial response force with the assistance of his ICC staff consisting of group commanders, various support unit representatives and the emergency operations center.

The ICC and the EOC are activated during crises and allow the incident commanders the ability to request needed support from one source. The EOC becomes a recovery force once the scene is contained and controlled and takes on different roles during the recovery process.

This wasn't the first time Tyndall AFB has exercised with local authorities.

"Tyndall teams up with our local communities whenever practical to practice joint response tactics to ensure when real-world tragedies strike, all players are ready to respond as a coordinated team," said Col. John Bird, 325th Fighter Wing vice commander. "As a federal entity we always strive to work with the state, county and local emergency response teams. After events like 9/11 and Hurricane Katrina, we know that it is the only way that we can react ... as a coordinated team."

Charles Cain, Tyndall AFB Fire and Emergency Services chief and incident commander, was energetic about the overall response.

"I think the exercise went super!" he said. "It did surface several limiting factors on our side and confirmed our communications interoperability. Any time we can participate with our off-base counterparts in an exercise of this magnitude, it's really important and a great learning experience for everyone involved. When and if we do this for real, it runs a lot smoother because of these exercises."