Army Reserve Chemical units test skills in a community-wide “emergency”
By 1st Lt. Michelle Lunato
359th Signal Brigade, PAO
North Chicago, Ill. -- Hundreds of injured high school students cry for help. City police and fire department sirens wail. A SWAT team hunts for the mustard gas attacker. A U.S. Army Reserve Hazmat team initiates a decontamination sweep. In one morning, a community is in chaos, and scared.
This was the scene on March 27, when the City of North Chicago hosted an emergency-response exercise with U.S. Army Reserve chemical units at North Chicago High School.
The simulated attack, named Blue Fire III, allowed over ten community agencies to practice their coordination with Reserve Soldiers. This synchronization is critical in a large-scale terrorist attack said Lt. Col. Leslie M. Dillard, Chief of Homeland Defense, 335th Signal Command (Theater). “What you have to understand about homeland defense is that we don’t do it by ourselves. We interact with other community agencies.”
The “multi-agency” exercise not only helped the Army Reserve, but the city as well, said Mayor Leon Rockingham Jr. “This ensures that we, as public servants, can effectively serve the community in a time of crisis.”
With over a 150 people involved in the simulated attack, efficient communication and coordination were essential to all the players whether they were Soldier or civilian.
Since September 11th, it is critical for all homeland defense agencies to know what to do in a mass casualty emergency, said Firefighter Douglas Winston, North Chicago Fire Department. “It is better to practice for the Super Bowl than just next week’s game.”
Blue Fire III, was not exactly the Super Bowl for the chemical Soldiers, but an important play-off to get there, said Maj. Richard D. Giles II, current operation officer, U.S. Army Reserve Command. “This is a small segment of a really big operation.”
As one of three units in the entire U.S. Army Reserve selected as a Ready Response Reserve Unit (R3U), the 342nd Chemical Company (BIDS-Biological Integrated Detection System) was not only training, but being evaluated on their ability and swiftness to deploy to an emergency.
Typically in an attack, local and state authorities would arrive on scene first. Reserve Soldiers in the R3U program would be the federal “first responders,” said Giles.
Evaluation of the pilot program, R3U, is important to homeland defense, said Lt. Col. Frank Nieves, Chief Current Operations Branch, U.S. Army Reserve Command. “We want to show that we can call up a unit within 72 hours, get them to the Reserve unit, get them ready and get them out the door with no notice.”
This quicker ability to support communities with federal aid demonstrates “new ways to utilize Reserve capabilities,” said Giles.
The Blue Fire III mission highlighted and evaluated the Soldiers abilities and prepared them for a bigger exercise or “chemical Super Bowl” called Red Dragon, in June. That is where we actually get certified in homeland defense, said Cpt. Peter A. Holloway, commander, 342nd Chemical Company (BIDS).
All the training and evaluation supports the Army’s motto, “Train as you fight,” said Sgt. 1st Class George W. Pruitt, nuclear-biological-chemical specialist, 379th Chemical Company. “If we can do this during training, we can do this for a mass casualty.”
