FORT RUCKER, Ala. -- It's Tuesday morning and the post is under attack.
Suspicious white powder shooting out of a package, an ear-shattering explosion and bodies strewn across an office floor.
Fortunately, these were all inputs for a force protection exercise at the post March 15 as officials work to ensure Fort Rucker personnel are ready to deal with the real thing if it ever occurs.
At about 8:30 a.m. Military Police received a call concerning a white substance at Bldg. 131.
The fire department was notified, prepared a hazardous materials response team and began a chemical sweep. Office personnel were isolated and decontaminated while fire fighters entered the building.
Moments later, an explosion damaged the back portion of the building, trapping those inside and causing mass casualties.
Fatalities and injuries were taken to the surrounding hospitals in the Wiregrass area, according to Michael Whittaker, Installation Antiterrorism Officer.
The annual force protection exercise brought many people and units together to face the described incident Tuesday.
"Everyone worked real hard," Whittaker said. "There will always be some crossed wires, but we worked well as a team."
Fire, emergency medical services and MP's constantly prepare for the worst and today was a prime example of the worst such as the white powder and explosion. That is why it took an extended amount of time to reach the injured, according to Whittaker.
"No one knew how bad the building was damaged and they were not going to put additional personnel inside," he continued. "It's a work in progress, every time you go somewhere like this you never know what you're going to find."
David Gause, assistant fire chief and incident commander directed units to prepare the HAZMAT and DECON units as the first step in the exercise due to the unknown powder.
The walking wounded were gathered and decontaminated, checked for any signs or systems and debriefed for information regarding the powder, according to Gause. A second team was sent in to sample and test the substance. During testing, the building exploded and collapsed killing those individuals.
"The department trains constantly on incidents such as this one," said Shane Brown, Fort Rucker assistant fire chief. "Everyone followed protocol and was efficient."
Tony Herring, paramedic and initial EMS commander also treated the wounded.
According to Herring, EMS arrived on scene and began treating victims. Victims were marked red for immediate, yellow for delayed and green for routine before being transported to local hospitals.
"Practice like this helps us to think about our options with walking wounded and critical patients," said Herring.
During the exercise EMS had access to information regarding which surrounding Wiregrass hospitals could handle critical and noncritical patients. Three of Fort Rucker's ambulances were on scene and eight additional ambulances were available from the Wiregrass area.
"These exercises help paramedics interact with all agencies," Herring said "It is good practice because one day we may have to use it."
Once the exercise ended, units packed up their gear and officials headed to the final stage of the exercise where command, staff and the Crisis Management Team will meet for remediation and recovery. Officials will review the exercise action reports and look at what went right and what could be improved.
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