FORT STEWART, Ga. - Emergency vehicles hurriedly responded to simulated terrorist attacks at Fort Stewart and Hunter Army Airfield July 26 and 27 as part of the Stewart Guardian exercise. The full scale exercise demonstrated how emergency responders both on and off the installation would respond to bona fide terrorist attacks.
Day one consisted of executing the exercise and day two tested the processes and standard operating procedures for consequence management of such an attack.
“It’s always good to do these exercises,” said Exercise Director and Mobilization Officer for Fort Stewart-Hunter army Airfield Maj. John Stanley. He added the exercise was designed to validate our emergency preparedness plans.
This multi-faceted exercise involved Hunter Army Airfield and was the fourth of its kind this fiscal year. A multi-agency effort involving the Georgia National Guard, Liberty County Emergency Management Agency, Hinesville Fire Department and a host of other partners proved advantageous.
The exercise started with terrorist shooting down a returning military flight at Hunter Army Airfield. Approximately two hours into the scenario another terrorist group had gained access to Fort Stewart’s Georgia National Guard Training Center and attacked a reservist housing area.
The fictitious terrorist cell, known as the Universal Adversary, was intent on attacking the US Government. Soldiers along with an exercise control group executed the scenario that began by intelligence gathering and dissemination of information according to Maj. Stanley. The exercise was not made known to its participants.
Developers of the exercise consisted of trusted agents across many directorates on the installation, regional partners and staff from the Third Infantry Division. According to Maj. Stanley, planners could “think outside the box” during the six month planning phase.
“We use real world scenarios to build and develop our exercises so that it’s realistic,” said Maj. Stanley. “We create scenarios that push the envelope to test the effectiveness of our systems and see what we can do better.”
During the execution, an incident scene command post, managed by key players, was established to manage the facts and were in constant contact with the crisis management centers. The primary mission of the crisis management center was to channel resources to the incident scene commander.
The exercise allowed evaluation of emergency response efforts, communication systems, anti-terrorism and force protection measures, consequence management plans, and proficiency levels of the crisis management staff and were successful Maj. Stanley said.
Capability gaps will now help to identify lessons learned and determine what needs to be changed to keep Soldiers, Family Members and DA Civilians safe which takes precedence to garrison leadership.
“Know that leadership [Fort Stewart’s Garrison Commander, Col. Kevin Milton and Hunter Army Airfield Garrison Commander Lt. Col. Ed Kovaleski] takes your safety serious and that they are doing something about it,” said Maj. Stanley. “Knowing that your community is prepared and that they are doing something about it shows they care.”
“The common theme of the exercise was situational awareness and there is always something we can improve upon,” said Maj. Stanley. “We are always looking at security and how we can improve it. “Every day we want to improve our fox hole, Fort Stewart and the region. You never want to give up on the opportunity to test your people and systems.”
Over the course of this fiscal year we have had two active-shooter exercises and one hurricane scenario along with this exercise, all in an effort to keep our responders ready.
While Stewart Guardian 11 is now over, Maj. Stanley is looking forward to planning the next exercise. No other exercise is planned for the remainder of this fiscal year.
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