Exercise shows JBER readiness for open house

by Airman 1st Class Tammie Ramsouer
JBER Public Affairs

7/3/2014 - JOINT BASE ELMENDORF-RICHARDSON, Alaska -- Clouds in the sky were heavy with rain on a cold Alaska morning, when suddenly a loud bang echoed from a parking lot and the sound of helpless groans arose from thick smoke covering the ground.

The loud bang was a simulated bomb explosion used to kick off this year's mission assurance exercise, which is organized annually to prepare for any unexpected occurrences during events like the Arctic Thunder Open House.

"The purpose of this exercise is to evaluate our first responders on bad scenarios that could possibly happen in the event of an open house or just day-to-day operations," said Stephen Spealman, 673d Inspector General wing inspection team manager.

These exercises prepare organizations-such as the 673d Medical Group, JBER firefighters and JBER security forces to ensure Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson is equipped to respond to any emergency situation, like a car bombing or aircraft crash, quickly and efficiently.

"Just before an open house, we do mass-casualty exercises to showcase all of our first responders' capabilities and to provide an environment for leadership to control processes on JBER," Spealman said. "Normally, we do an aircraft crash because we have flying units during the air show portion of the open house, but we wanted to provide our personnel the opportunity to operate differently than if they were to be called out to an aircraft crash."

The scenario was a simulated improvised explosive device detonating inside a vehicle during the Arctic Thunder Open House. Individuals at the simulated explosion site were evacuated by first responders and treated by medical personnel. After the area was evacuated an explosive ordnance disposal team searched the area for further IEDs.

To make the exercise more realistic, volunteers from different squadrons participated as moulaged victims of the explosion and simulated the injuries ranging from small cuts to severe burns on large portions of their backs.

"Our moulage patients were a scatter of Airmen and Soldiers throughout JBER," Spealman said. "It took two-plus hours to get all the volunteers moulaged for this exercise."

More than 40 volunteers were moulaged with fake wounds; one of them being Airman Hannah Adams, an administrative assistant with the 773d Logistics Readiness Squadron.

"During the exercise, I was behind the exploded vehicle and received a laceration to my face and a possible broken jaw," Adams said. "This was a very interesting experience, seeing all the first responders doing their thing and how it would possibly run if this were to happen in [the] real world."

The exercise is a command-directed procedure orchestrated by the base's inspector general.

The Arctic Thunder Open House is a biennial JBER and 673d Air Base Wing event open to the public and all military members and their families free of charge. The event features aerial demonstrations from different aircraft types and demonstrations by military personnel of their various missions, equipment and aircraft carry out on JBER.

"This is helping our leadership prepare their command and control channels to institute the operations they don't do every day," Spealman said. "This is the first responder's opportunity to showcase their skills and show that they do know what they were trained to do."