All-hazards response team gains CERF validation

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. Carolyn Viss
  • Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam Public Affairs
BELLOWS AIR FORCE STATION, Hawaii --  The Hawaii National Guard all-hazards response team stood up a CBRNE (chemical, biological, nuclear, high-yield explosive) Enhanced Response Force here Dec. 13 to 18 in order to be evaluated by the Joint Interagency Training and Education Center.

The CERF team, comprised of Army and Air Force members, was validated after six days of setup and training scenarios, in which the total-force team responded to a "blast" from a dirty bomb containing sarin gas -- a nerve agent -- and had to conduct search and extraction, decontamination, and medical treatment on the "victims" of the scenario.

"This exercise we're going through is evaluation of the team to be sure they meet standards set by the National Guard bureau as far as responding to the disaster and treating the casualties that come out of the disaster," said Air Force Col. Stanley Sato, 154th Medical Group commander from Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii.

The CERF has been around since 2004, and is evaluated biennially, according to Colonel Sato. Going through the validation together is particularly valuable since the Army's team changes when a whole unit deploys, whereas the Air Force medical team has remained much the same for six years, through three exercises.

"The Guard's primary mission is Homeland Defense - typically we've responded to earthquakes, floods, storm cleanup, et cetera," Colonel Sato said. "We've never had any incident with weapons of mass destruction in Hawaii like they did in the Oklahoma City bombing, but anything that might happen to the homeland, we would be there."

Originally, there were 12 teams set up in nine Federal Emergency Management Agency regions, and Hawaii is a strategic location because of its isolation in the Pacific, he said. Guardsmen are not the primary responders,

"Typically local first responders would come out, like firefighters, paramedics, police ... but when they get overwhelmed they would call in the CERF," Colonel Sato explained. "(We) can never be too ready to respond. With a mass casualty disaster, local EMS system can be overwhelmed in a matter of hours."

Capt. Aaron Blanchard, operations officer for Hawaii National Guard CERF taskforce, said the Army's Alpha Company combat engineers and Headquarters Company special troops battalion Soldiers have special equipment training and readiness in addition to their Federal and "go to war" missions.

"Everyone on this task force is a volunteer from the unit," he said. "Our goal is not to replace the first responders and civil authorities -- they are absolutely in charge of any incident; but what we train to be and seek to be is that 'tier two' level of response."

If a disaster occurs, the Guard could be called up by the governor to respond immediately; additionally, they could be sent to another state in an other-than-Federal status, supporting not only Hawaii but another state or territory, Captain Blanchard said.

"We enjoy being out here," he said. "It's a tough week for everybody, but we definitely stand ready to support civil authorities in a disaster. We've done it before, and we're ready to do it again."