Mongolian emergency managers observe Vigilant Guard exercise

Sgt. Karima Turner
Alaska National Guard

(4/26/10) -- Vigilant Guard is playing an important role in the National Guard’s State Partnership Program. In addition to increasing interoperability between state, federal and volunteer agencies, this full-scale exercise is providing a unique learning opportunity for the Mongolian delegates.

Since 2003, the Alaska National Guard and Mongolia have been forming a relationship through the program. Mongolia was partnered with Alaska in part because the two regions so closely resemble each other in size, terrain and many natural disasters, to include earthquakes.

Mongolia, has sent nine representatives from four different organizations ranging from the municipal to the national government to observe the full scale earthquake-based exercise in hopes of bringing back the new found knowledge to their country.

Since 2006, Mongolia and Alaska have participated in Khaan Quest , a combined joint training exercise designed to strengthen the capabilities of U.S. and Mongolian Armed forces in international peace support operations worldwide.

“For Khaan Quest next year, I plan on implementing and practicing what we learn here at Vigilant Guard with the training we will be doing during Khaan Quest,” said Uuganbayar Batmunkh, head of training division for the National Emergency Management Agency in Ulan Bataar, Mongolia. “We will train our people in the classroom on what we learned here then we will put it into play with hands-on field training.” The representatives will have the chance to study and learn about nearly every aspect of emergency and disaster response through Vigilant Guard.

“The delegation will have the opportunity to visit several of the disaster venues during Vigilant Guard and will take away their observations and the lessons that we learn as a state in how to conduct an exercise,” said Lt. Col. Stephen Wilson, Alaska-Mongolia State Partnership Program coordinator. “They will be able to use that information to help prepare their own organization for response to a disaster and prepare for exercising that response.”

“Mongolia is very concerned with earthquake disasters,” said Wilson. “In January, they felt a 5.5- magnitude earthquake, and shortly thereafter larger earthquakes hit Haiti, Chile and a little over 800 miles away from their homeland a 6.9-magnitude earthquake struck in the northwest China Qinghai province, so it is very important that they are able to observe this kind of large scale training.”