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Like clockwork: First responders shine in exercise

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. Timothy R. Capling
  • 325th Fighter Wing Public Affairs
TYNDALL AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. --  It was such a quiet, cloudy Friday morning at the 325th Civil Engineer Squadron Fire Department May 16 that nothing could be heard except for the dull hum of the florescent light bulbs, the occasional vehicle driving down Florida Avenue and people passing through the hallways.

The silence was eerily comparable to the calm before a major storm, which in a way was about to occur.

Breaking the silence, a thundering voice sounded from the ceiling speakers letting the fire department know there was an emergency. To conclude the message, the controller belted out, "Exercise, exercise, exercise."

The quiet department turned into a fully-throttled machine. Civilian and military firefighters emerged from everywhere in a quick and decisive manner like worker bees on a hive. They were geared up and ready to roll within minutes.

The highly anticipated major accident response exercise designed to test Tyndall's commanders and responders before the operational readiness inspection was underway, and it was now game time.

Charles Cain, 325th CES Fire and Emergency Services chief, and his deputy Senior Master Sgt. Derrick Joe, rushed through the main station, hopped into a sparkling clean sport utility vehicle, and exited the garage.

As Chief Cain steered onto the flight line, Sergeant Joe immediately began running quick-reaction checklists. Both men listened intently to the radio to learn a simulated QF-4 Phantom belonging to the 53rd Weapons Evaluation Group had crashed into a mobile command vehicle near the drone runway.

Chief Cain was quick on the draw to respond.

"Give me a 2,500 foot cordon," he said to ensure the safety of all the surrounding areas and people from the possibility of burning hazardous material.

As Chief Cain maneuvered his vehicle closer to the incident, more and more emergency-response vehicles followed behind, forming a magnificent parade of red, white and blue strobe lights.

Before reaching the designated entry control point, simulated catastrophe struck again. The dispatcher notified them that one of their own trucks had rolled over, creating another exercise incident to respond to.

They reached the control point, stopped the vehicle and hopped out to investigate. Sergeant Joe hustled around to the back of their truck, and opened the hatch while Chief Cain commanded his forces via radio.

Sergeant Joe began studying several large grid maps as Master Sgt. Tim Abbey, 325th Security Forces day flight chief pulled his cruiser up and the two then began discussing collaboration of their forces. After a quick meeting, Sergeant Abbey returned to his vehicle, pulled out his own grid map and grease pencil, and began plotting traffic control points to ensure no regular traffic got too close to the accidents.

Meanwhile at both crashes, firefighters expeditiously removed the injured from their vehicles and immediately began administering first aid. To enhance the reality of the situation, the victims had simulated blood, smoke and grease marks on their faces. The firefighters had to face the reality that not only were they treating victims, but some of the victims were their co-workers; a sobering but possible situation.

A 325th Medical Group ambulance wailed out loud as it pulled up to the fire truck accident. Three members hopped out and immediately began assisting the firefighters. They swiftly loaded one patient onto a stretcher and into the back of their ambulance, and transported him away from the scene. The firefighters began evacuating the rest of the casualties to a makeshift triage unit back at the ECP.

The scenes were safely contained and the casualties were treated, and as the exercise wound down, so did a long week of preparation. Throughout the week, Tyndall was tested through a series of exercise scenarios, from force protection to weather evacuation. All were geared toward preparing the base for the ORI. Tyndall has had several preparation weeks throughout the past year. The weeks are usually concluded with one major accident response exercise like Friday's.

Chief Cain said he was pleased with the outcome of the exercise.

"From an Incident Commander perspective I think it was a super exercise," he said. "The hustle and professionalism displayed by all responders were noteworthy. Sure there were some errors during the exercise however that's the reason we have exercises so they don't happen if the real thing were to occur."

Col. Darryl Roberson, 325th Fighter Wing commander, was also pleased with how his Airmen performed.

"I'm happy with how well our team conducted the exercise," the colonel said. "I'm confident that we are on track to get an Outstanding for the ORI, but more importantly that we can handle any real-world crisis that an Air Force base may face."

This may have been the final test for the base before the ORI inspection next month.

"Now it's time to finalize our actions and get ready for the ORI team arrival," Col. Roberson said. "Locate and Liquidate!!"