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VING Practices Disaster Response Readiness During Five-Day Field Exercise

Members of the Virgin Islands National Guard from St. Thomas and St. Croix and the Indiana Army Reserve have joined forces during a five-day disaster simulation to test their readiness in case of an earthquake and/or tsunami.

On Wednesday, camp sites were set up for 600 soldiers at Altoona Lagoon and the East End Marine Park with a command base at VING Headquarters at Estate Bethlehem. Each site will feed and provide sleeping tents for troops as well as showers, latrines and medical care.

The exercise will assess the local military response to a hypothetical earthquake and tsunami affecting St. Croix, closing the airport and Christiansted harbor.

“It tests our ability to respond and communicate in a timely way,” said Col. Daryl Jaschen, site commander.

The troops at the lagoon are distilling drinking water and East End Marine Park personnel manage VING operations, “boots on the ground,” as determined by headquarters, according to Jaschen. A meeting is held at command headquarters every night to access damage and plan for anticipated needs.

A VING statement asked the community not to be alarmed by traffic and noise and apologized for any disruption to neighborhoods around the training areas. The exercise is a 24-hour operation, but the Guard will try to keep vehicles off the road at night and execute operations during the daylight, Jaschen said.

In the case of a real disaster, the governor will ask the president to declare a state of emergency. Then VING, and federal units if necessary, will be “invited” to participate, Jaschen said. The goal is a total of 500 local soldiers on each island during a disaster, he said.

Troops would work with local agencies such as the Departments of Health; Planning and Natural Resources; Police; and Fire Services. The Virgin Island Emergency Management Agency would manage the responders under orders from the governor.

“We can basically support those agencies with the responses they need,” Jaschen said, adding that “we intend to turn everything back to the government” during the recovery phase.

Over the next few days, Jaschen said, the Guard and reservists will respond to staged requests for medical help, search and rescue, traffic control and distribution of supplies. VING will back up first responders, Jaschen said. He said a crowd control exercise supporting VIPD is planned for Saturday.

Thursday afternoon, the EEMP camp received a test call for support. In the scenario, a guardsman was injured during the rescue of a child, and medical and moral support for relatives and the troops, who were shaken by the event, were requested. Jaschen stopped what he was doing and quickly told a VING member to locate the chaplain and another soldier to contact the medical unit and determine if medical evacuation was possible.

“With an injury, usually the first report is not entirely accurate,” Jaschen said. Planning for all contingencies is important, whether it is triage, medevac or transport to St. Thomas. The Gov. Juan Luis Hospital was considered to be damaged during the simulated tsunami.

Engineering, supplies and maintenance, quartermaster and medical units for the Virgin Islands and the Indiana Army Reserves are participating in the training exercises.

This is the second year for Operation Forward Guardian and Jaschen said it will likely be an annual event. The location of the exercise will rotate between islands since any one may be affected by a natural disaster.

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