WIESBADEN, Germany - Three masked individuals burst into the Tony Bass Auditorium Sept. 26 gunning down several people before taking others hostage. Military Police were quickly on the scene, safeguarding the area, accounting for the injured and calling for backup from fellow U.S. military and host nation first responders.
As many on Wiesbaden's Clay Kaserne went about their daily business, U.S. Army Garrison Wiesbaden members and their German counterparts were pulling out all the stops to put their emergency response capabilities to the test during the annual All Hazards Exercise.
"The main reason we do these annual Full Scale All Hazards Exercises is to ensure our first responders are prepared -- just in case an incident might occur," said Robert Thomas, director of the U.S. Army Garrison's Directorate of Plans, Training, Mobilization and Security.
With a small chunk of Clay Kaserne cordoned off, emergency vehicles with lights flashing blocking access to the area, MPs, German Police and Quick Reaction Force members taking up positions to secure the area around the Tony Bass facilities, pedestrians and drivers were forced to make small detours to get around on the installation.
Thomas said he was especially impressed with how host nation and U.S. military first responders worked together to quickly assess the situation, confront the challenges presented and to actively engage -- communicating and coordinating consistently with those in the Emergency Operations Center and command elements on the scene.
"I think those were our really strong points," Thomas said, "how well they work together.
"Things to work on include getting more community involvement, including tenant units and agencies and members of the community, so that everyone knows what to do and how to react in case of an incident," he said.
The noise of an approaching helicopter signaled the arrival of members of the Special Einsatz Kommando (German Police task force).?As the elite law enforcement officers rappelled from the hovering aircraft, they quickly moved in to begin the hostage negotiations, eventually "neutralizing" the suspects and rescuing the hostages.
Meanwhile, several hundred feet from the scene, U.S. and host nation medical personnel were hard at work gathering personal information, assessing and treating injuries before moving the "injured" role players to the Wiesbaden Fire Department which was serving as the local hospital during the exercise.
"Our number-one priority is the safety of our community members," said Col. Mary Martin, USAG Wiesbaden commander, during an after-action review immediately following the exercise. "We count on our host nation to support us on this."
Like Thomas, Martin said those participating in the exercise "were doing what they were supposed to do," but felt that future events should include more community involvement to provide more realistic training.
"I think everything went smoothly out there on the ground … of course, there are always areas that could be improved," said Lt. Col. Joseph Hissim, USAG Wiesbaden's director of Emergency Services.
Hissim thanked the Polizei, SEK members and other host nation first responders for their outstanding support.
"The amount of host nation support that was actively engaged here on the installation was phenomenal," said Bruce Likens, one of the exercise evaluators from the DPTMS in Rheinland-Pfalz. "My hat's off -- these kind of relationships don't happen overnight."
"That's our everyday life," said Martin. "We appreciate what they (host nation first responders) do for us every day."
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