Garrison tests its force protection skills

By Ignacio (Iggy) RubalcavaOctober 7, 2009

Garrison tests its force protection skills
1 / 2 Show Caption + Hide Caption – (Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL
Garrison tests its force protection skills
2 / 2 Show Caption + Hide Caption – (Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL

BAUMHOLDER, Germany - An attacker who gained access to the upper Wetzel Housing area detonated his explosive-laden vehicle by ramming a bus full of passengers next to the Wetzel Child Development Center Sept. 19. There were numerous injuries to the bus passengers and collateral damage to the Wetzel CDC. People inside the Wetzel CDC were also affected by the explosion that rocked the upper Wetzel area at about 9 a.m.

A,A

That was the scenario for this year's force protection exercise conducted by the U.S. Army Garrison Baumholder.

A,A

"The purpose of the exercise was to test our ability to respond to and to react to some type of terrorist type of incident or accident that could happen in the U.S. Army Garrison Baumholder," said Laney Rich, anti-terrorism officer.

A,A

Realism is an important player in a good force protection exercise and the USAG Baumholder continues to raise the bar each year, making the exercise more challenging for everyone involved, officials said.

A,A

"This year we enhanced the exercise a little bit. We had the exploding car and we also had a shuttle bus involved in the exercise. We try to do a little bit of enhancement each year to add to the realism and to increase the participation in the exercise and also to give everyone that is involved in it a good idea of exactly what we do here in the garrison," said Rich.

A,A

A trail of simulated intelligence messages, and inputs several days before the exercise added to the realism of the scenario.

A,A

"We did something extra this year in the sense that we led off the exercise not just a day prior, or two days prior, but four days prior with reports, intelligence injects and assorted information that led us to, in the realism sense, to the point when the actual incident happened. It wasn't just something where we came in one morning, a car blows up and we react to that. It was something leading us up to that in the sense that something was happening in the community, or was potentially going to happen - some type of terrorist act.

A,A

"When we finally get to the point where the car explodes and we're able to react to that, it enhances the ability of people to think, to get it straight in their minds as to how we got to the point when the incident actually happens," Rich explained.

A,A

The exercise brings first responders from the German community into the equation as they too respond in thesame manner they would during an actual emergency.

A,A

"We have a robust host nation capability that includes the fire department, emergency response, German Red Cross and the Polizei. From the U.S. side we have our fire department, we have our MPs, we have our emergency response force from our tenant units on the installation, and we have the entire garrison staff that's involved in this thing so it's a full up exercise and really tests the entire spectrum of our force protection plan," said Rich.

A,A

Force protection has always been a serious business, more so now in this day and age. So preparing for a potential threat is taken very seriously by the garrison force protection team. They plan these exercises each year and they focus on exercising the full spectrum of the force protection equation. But they cannot do it alone so they call upon volunteers to contribute to the realism of it all.

A,A

Volunteer support

"We train to do this. We know it's coming. We practice it each year, but one thing I can't speak highly enough about are those 20 something volunteers who took time out of their Saturday to come in at 7 a.m., get moulaged by the medics, get a briefing on how to simulate their injuries and get on that bus and in that building and sit there and wait for the incident to actually happen.

A,A

"When the exercise begins they get rescued, triaged, placed in an ambulance and transported around the block and so on.

A,A

"Without our volunteers the exercise just wouldn't have the kind of realism that it really needs to enhance it," said Rich.

Related Links:

USAG Baumholder home page

Herald Union Online