Exercise team conducts base training

  • Published
  • By Philip Lorenz III
  • AEDC/PA
Arnold Air Force Base, Tenn. --  Arnold Engineering Development Center's (AEDC) Exercise Evaluation Team conducted an emergency response training exercise simulating an aircraft crash near the base airfield Aug. 11. 

The exercise scenario involved a C-130 Hercules military transport plane on a training flight that crashes on base after experiencing a catastrophic engine failure, wing fire and subsequent loss of flight control. 

"The purpose of the exercise was to determine Arnold Air Force Base's ability to respond to an aircraft crash on the installation and evaluate implementation of the associated emergency response plans," explained Dan Johnson, Aerospace Testing Alliance's installation exercise program officer. "My role is to plan and coordinate a wide range of exercises, to include major accidents, natural disasters, force protection, active shooter, disease containment and public health emergencies, to prepare the installation to effectively deal with any emergency situation." 

Johnson said the recent exercise involved mobilizing multiple elements of the Disaster Response Force (DRF). 

"The nature of this particular exercise made it necessary to bring a wide spectrum of our DRF together, including AEDC's police, fire department, emergency medical services, the Emergency Communications Center, the Operations Center, the Emergency Operations Center, the Commander's Senior Staff and Senior Staff Support Team, the Search & Recovery Team and Public Affairs," he said. "C-130 aircrews routinely train at the Arnold airfield and preparing the DRF for one of Arnold AFB's most probable events, such as an aircraft crash, is one of the Exercise Evaluation Team's primary goals." 

Johnson said exercises, especially a simulated aircraft crash, provide a host of challenges to quickly employ an effective and rapid response force. 

"An exercise like this demonstrates the tremendous amount of coordination required between so many different groups," he said. "There is a certain amount of chaos in every emergency. However, constant training and exercising prepares the DRF to effectively sort through and manage this chaos in order to protect property and our most important resource - people." 

Daryl Justice, the emergency management lead, said the training exercise went well, but described the experience as a progressive learning experience. 

"Overall, this exercise was a huge success," he said. "Our continuing challenge is to keep every element of the Disaster Response Force ready and able to perform during any emergency situation. During this exercise, we presented a tough test for many of the key elements of the DRF and they performed well. Our entire DRF is continuing to mature and improve with each exercise."