Exercise tests Travis' ability to respond

  • Published
  • By Nick DeCicco
  • 60th Air Mobility Wing Public Affairs
TRAVIS AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. --  Travis holds many training exercises throughout the year, but few are as involved as the Home Station Attack Response Exercise held Nov. 14.

At about four times larger than usual, this HARE represented Travis' largest emergency response exercise of the year, according to Dan Johnson, 60th Air Mobility Wing Plans' chief of exercise evaluation team.

The base's fire department, police, medical staff, Explosive Ordnance Disposal, Office of Special Investigations and the FBI were among the participants. Additionally, there were 95 role players acting as injured individuals or their family members, media members or terrorists.

Air Force members faced a two-pronged scenario. The first was a hostage situation and subsequent hijacking of an aircraft. The second was a large-scale chemical attack made of products available commercially. The first incident was ongoing when the second happened.

"The exercise tested our ability to handle two scenes at the same time," Mr. Johnson said.
He said the Emergency Services Team that responded to the hostage scenario "did a great job."

In keeping with the large scope of the exercise, approximately 75 people responded to the two incidents. Travis also invited off-base agencies from Fairfield and Vacaville to observe and provide information.

To heighten the severity of the exercise and involve as many agencies as possible, 13 deaths were staged along with more than 70 injured.

"This exercise was designed to duplicate conditions that could happen in the real world," said Col. Stephen Shea, 60th Mission Support Group commander. "Team Travis Airmen took that to their advantage and worked hand in hand to use their training to improve operations and ultimately solve the problem."

Mr. Johnson said the exercise was purposefully difficult to test the abilities of servicemembers and the capabilities of Travis and the Solano County community.

"It's training, but it also provides a sight picture for the wing commander to see how the installation does its job," Mr. Johnson said. "It is meant to test the wing hard. It doesn't surprise anybody when we learn new things in each exercise."
Mr. Johnson said the HARE helped identify areas that need improvement, as well as identified to commanders areas for action, whether they be process issues or problems regarding equipment or training.

"Team Travis showed that we are prepared to work together and conquer any task thrown at us," said Col. GI Tuck, 60th Air Mobility Wing vice commander. "During the recent HARE exercise, our Airmen took advantage of an opportunity to fine-tune our crisis response operations, and work with outside agencies so we're ready if and when we do need to respond."

The training also was the first chance to fully operate the Emergency Operations Center which under the Air Force Incident Management System has primary control of all response actions dealing with a specific scene.

Mr. Johnson said patience and understanding are appreciated during such exercises.

"It's important for the general public at Travis to know that these exercises are important for safety and well-being," Mr. Johnson said. "There's only one chance in a real emergency to get it right and these exercises give us the opportunity to do that."

Two HAREs are required per year. They prepare the installation for different types of possible attacks on the base. The wing then evaluated by the Air Mobility Command Inspector General on how well it responds to terrorist attacks using AFIMS guidelines.

The Nov. 14 exercise serves as a preparation event for the Unit Compliance Inspection in March 2008, Mr. Johnson said.