“EXERCISE! EXERCISE! EXERCISE!” was a familiar exclamation heard around Fort Riley on July 26 during the installation’s annual full-scale exercise.
Every year Fort Riley conducts a three-phase full-scale exercise (event, response, and initial recovery) to test and train installation preparedness. Evaluators assess agency response and adherence to policy throughout the exercise.
Installation exercises are designed to evaluate the capability to activate and stress crisis response services and command & control centers; examine and test the installation’s ability to provide life-sustaining, human services, emergency family assistance, community lifeline, and restoration operations to the affected population; and demonstrate the ability to coordinate off-post mutual aid with community resiliency operations.
Fort Riley Garrison Commander, Col. Michael Foote said, “The thing about this exercise scenario is it not only tests and stresses our small internal processes, but it forces us to reach out into the community and work processes with FEMA, State of Kansas, National Guard, Evergy, Kansas Gas, Union Pacific, and other partners. Good relationships with all of these entities are critical in any crisis.”
Each year the exercise scenario includes a catastrophic event to which first responders, leaders and other agencies must respond until the threat is contained or has passed and the community is once again safe. Previous scenarios have included active shooters, natural disasters such as a tornado or ice storm, and chemical attacks. This year’s event was multifaceted.
The scenario began with a coordinated attack on two Evergy power substations located in Junction City, synchronized with an unmanned aerial system/drone attack on a Fort Riley substation. Notionally, the installation and parts of the surrounding community in Junction City lost power starting at 4 a.m. Authorities received reports of suspicious activity near one of the substations. While law enforcement personnel dealt with possible criminal or terrorist activity, public works crews focused on restoring power. The emergency services role culminated with a suspect crashing his vehicle into Grant access control point causing a mass casualty incident. Fort Riley Fire and Emergency Services quickly rushed to the scene to extinguish the blaze and provide emergency medical care to casualties.
Soldiers, Family members, and civilians volunteered as role players for in person and telephonic interactions which lent a real-world sense of urgency for participating agencies including the Emergency Family Assistance Center (EFAC).
“The EFAC was incredibly successful this year thanks to the staff and all of the role players,” said Nicole Tazwell, family advocacy specialist. “The scenario presented allowed us to take on roles that are different from our day-to-day duties and allowed the team to work in a more pressing environment with face-to-face interactions. We are pleased to know that in a real-world situation we are prepared to stand up and assist Soldiers and Families in their time of need.”
Chris Hallenbeck, Fort Riley emergency management coordinator, explained, “Response efforts focused on those actions that are required to quickly save lives, ensure the safety and protection of community personnel and critical infrastructure, and to meet those initial basic needs of a community, while the short-term recovery efforts focused on the timely restoration of essential services, utilities, community mass care, and other key services that support mission essential tasks.”
Hallenbeck continued, “Our exercise planning team created a realistic, complex, full-scale exercise that involved multiple agencies, directorates, and partner organizations giving us the opportunity to test and validate installation emergency response procedures and test our ability to prioritize and coordinate short term and long-term recovery requirements. At the end of the day by conducting this realistic, challenging training, the Fort Riley team is better postured and prepared to respond to and manage emergency events that may occur on our installation.”
For more information on how to be informed and prepared for an emergency, visit https://home.army.mil/riley/index.php/about/dir-staff/DPTMS/ready-army.
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