Reservist Magazine is the award-winning official publication of the United States Coast Guard Reserve. Bi-monthly issues include news and feature articles about the men and women who comprise America's premier national maritime safety and security
Issue link: https://uscgreservist.epubxp.com/i/140140
This is only an Exercise: Coast Guard Reserve and Texas State Guard partner for a multi-agency all response and mass casualty exercise REPEAT, THIS IS ONLY AN EXERCISE: The sun was barely peaking over the horizon at 0700 outside the Training Vessel General Rudder on the Texas A&M; Galveston campus. Though still quite dark, one could just begin to make out the dark blue uniforms of Marine Safety Unit (MSU) Texas City's Law Enforcement Response Team led by MEC Thomas Spears gathering approximately 100 yards from the vessel, preparing their gear, and generating a plan of action. Moving another 300 yards back were three drab green command tents serving as unified command posts and a drove of personnel in digital camouflage from the Texas State Guard's Medical Brigade and 8th Regiment providing force protection. In a flash, MEC Spears ordered his team to board the vessel where they performed security sweeps on each deck and detained by force several terrorists that had hijacked the ship. Unfortunately, a bomb detonated, killing or injuring several of the ship's crewmembers that were being held hostage as well as one of the terrorists. When relative peace ensued, members of the Texas State Guard's Medical Brigade, under the direction of Capt. Wadie Williams, rushed onboard the ship for a mass casualty evacuation. As the injured underwent triage, oil began leaking from the vessel due to the explosion, and the MSU Texas City's Incident Management Division, headed by Lt. Tamisha Lewis, worked diligently with members of the Texas State Guard's 8th Regiment to deploy boom to both contain the leaking oil and protect nearby environmentally sensitive areas. After a hard day's work and the threat of severe thunderstorms in the area, this multi-agency training exercise between the Coast Guard Reserve and Auxiliary components as well as the Texas State Guard was a success. Luckily this was only an exercise, but any Coast Guardsman who has deployed to a real world emergency management operation knows we rarely go in alone….we are one part of a greater unified command. Thus the MSU Texas City reservists partnered with the Texas State Guard to work side-by- aBoVe: MSSd2 Matthew tilimon provides first Responder awareness training to a classroom full of USCg Reservists and auxiliarists, as well as soldiers from the texas State guard. a soldier from the texas State guard demonstrates the proper wear of a Level B Hazmat suit. BeLoW: MSt3 Justin tidey instructs members of the texas State guard in proper methods of boom deployment to mitigate potential oil damage to environmentally sensitive areas. side in a real-world type exercise that provided comprehensive hands-on-training where each agency performed its part of the overall mission. The joint exercise provided hands-on training in vessel security, mass causality evacuation and triage, and oil spill response. Additional classroom training in hazmat, container and vessel inspections rounded out the two day event. Training in a joint operational environment is invaluable for our future success should a hurricane, oil spill, or terrorist event take place. Not only does it provide a more realistic setting that mimics the actual circumstances that would occur in an emergency operation, it clarifies the strengths and weaknesses of each agency. Moreover, it identifies previously unknown resources that each agency can tap into should a future need arise. For instance, the Texas State Guard (whose members primarily come from a Department of Defense background) was surprised that the Coast Guard had such a strong military and law enforcement presence. Additionally, Coast Guard personnel were impressed with the medical skills possessed by the Texas State Guard's Medical Brigade. The lessons learned and examples set by this exercise remind us of what can be accomplished by working as a team, not only within the Coast Guard, but with our inter-agency partners as well. — Story and Photo by Lt. Brad Bryan, Facilities Inspections, Marine Safety Unit Texas City 14 RESERVIST � Issue 2 • 2013