SAGAMI GENERAL DEPOT, Japan - The Public Health Command–Pacific radiological advisory medical team conducted an exercise March 12 at Sagami General Depot.
Maj. Daniel Arguello, PHC-Pacific’s Chief of Health Physics, said the purpose of the exercise was to bring everybody together as a team and to practice individual tasks such as properly equipping themselves and taking environmental field samples.
Ultimately, the exercise allowed the team to practice the techniques required to provide radiological health expertise if they are ever needed.
The team purposely left their home stations and traveled to the depot to ensure they had the ability to put all the necessary equipment and supplies to work in case of emergency situations, Arguello added.
Arguello said the team was able to get the equipment deployed smoothly and complete a lot of tasks done considering it was the first time working with members from Hawaii for the exercise.
“I think we did relatively well,” said Arguello. “I was very happy with how we did.”
Arguello said he looks forward to more frequent joint exercises with more members from the Pacific region.
Staff Sgt. Kevin Stringer, assigned to Tripler Army Medical Center in Hawaii, said it was beneficial to bring team members together for training as they are usually stationed at various locations around the Pacific.
Stringer said planning the exercises, getting all the equipment together and transporting it to a remote location required a lot of work and coordination, but the actual exercise went smoothly.
“It was nice to come together even though we’ve never worked together,” said Stringer. “This is really important (training) for us to get together as a team - to know each other and work with each other in case there were a real incident.”
Stringer said the biggest takeaway was that the team now has a clear picture of what needs to be improved to make the operation run smoother the next time around.
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