Southwest Asia -- Airmen from the 386th Air Expeditionary Wing partnered up with Airmen from the 332nd Air Expeditionary Wing to put their skills to the test during a Hazardous Materials Technician Certification Course at an undisclosed location in Southwest Asia, April 15, 2016.
Hosted by the 386th Expeditionary Civil Engineer Squadron fire department, the goal of the exercise was to give Airmen a chance apply knowledge and skills learned from the classroom instruction and computer-based training.
“We wanted to give [the Airmen] a chance to go through the steps to properly handle a hazardous materials incident or emergency while wearing all the protective gear,” said Tech. Sgt. Stentsen Ellenberg, 386th ECES fire department NCO in charge of training.
The hands-on training scenario simulated a chlorine gas leak to which the fire department, emergency management and medical teams had to respond; not an easy task considering operations tempos and limited resources common in a deployed environment.
“Every shop has to be utilized. Metals fabricating shops have to help build props, emergency management has to bring their monitors and extra personal protective suits, and medical provides their personnel to care for [simulated] victims. It really does take the whole base working together to allow this to happen,” Ellenburg said.
While the exercise was a rousing success with all members successfully completing their practical skills checklists, the real benefit of the exercise was in building relationships with other agencies and units, as was the case for Senior Airman Danielle Monroe, a 386th ECES emergency management apprentice.
“For me the most beneficial part was having the chance to check out what everyone was doing and learn about the different positions and responsibilities; it helped me see the actual big picture and all the working parts moving together,” she said.
“The networking gained with the various shops was the most beneficial portion of the entire event,” Ellenburg added. “We were working together, learning terminology, learning what equipment each unit had and how we worked with the other. These exercises help us build trust among the units we work and train beside.”