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Airmen, Soldiers validate system during Balad battle drill

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. Mareshah Haynes
  • 332nd Air Expeditionary Wing Public Affairs
More than 200 Airmen and Soldiers participated in a battle drill here to test the capabilities of the Joint Emergency Operations Center March 31.

The JEOC is a team of Air Force and Army personnel from critical base agencies who assemble during crisis situations to help the base recover to conducting wartime operations and to take care of those who are injured. Since Balad is co-located with the Army's Logistics Support Area Anaconda, coordination between the services is key.
The JEOC at Balad is the only one in Iraq and the drill was the first time the capability had been tested, said Lt. Col. Brian Porter, 332nd Air Expeditionary Wing Plans and Programs chief, who is deployed from Scott Air Force Base, Ill.

The purpose of the drill was to examine the processes of the JEOC and to validate the concept of operations.

"It was the first joint [battle drill] we ever tackled as a team of planners and in the execution phase," Colonel Porter said. "I believe it did validate the concept of operations and it also provided us with a lot of wonderful lessons identified as far as how we can improve that process to ensure the JEOC is ready to respond to any contingency."

In order to fully test the capabilities of the JEOC and the military personnel who are first to respond to emergency situations, such as firefighters, medics and military police, the scenarios of the battle drill had to be realistic. Airmen and Soldiers were outfitted with simulated war-time wounds, complete with fake blood, so emergency responders could treat them as they would in a real-world situation.

Several scenarios played out for emergency responders during the drill, to include a simulated suicide bomber attack and a simulated unexploded rocket lodged in a fuel truck.

"We worked hand-in-hand with the Army medics to get patients taken care of and the situation under control," said Staff Sgt. Ben Frankenbery, a 332nd Expeditionary Civil Engineer Squadron firefighter who is deployed from Fairchild Air Force Base, Wash. "On a daily basis we respond to emergencies on base with Army first responders, so the drill put us to the test."

Back in the Joint Emergency Operations Center, Air Force and Army counterparts worked together to provide direction to their respective agencies to respond to the emergency and restore the base to normal operations as quickly as possible.

"I think this [drill] was a great opportunity for the Army and Air Force personnel to meet face to face with the people they'll be working with during a contingency operation," said Col. Courtney Carr, Mayor of LSAA.

Each scenario was evaluated by a subject matter expert, who observed what was going on and gave feedback to base leadership on the success of the drill and areas that could be improved upon.

Communication and incident scene control were issues that were focused on heavily to help Air Force and the Army personnel work together more jointly, according to the battle drill evaluators during a feedback session.

"Everyone did their job well, now we need to do our job well together," said Army 1st Lt. Nolan Ellis, officer in charge of the Phipps Troop Medical Center, and a battle drill evaluator. "We need to train together. That's a key point that came out of this [battle drill]."

As a result of the battle drill, Air Force and Army personnel at Balad are currently planning to do more integrated training between the services to respond to base emergencies, Colonel Porter said.