Trainings & Exercises

US Air Force 916th Civil Engineering Flight conduct four-day exercise, including CBRN

Patrick Norén

Patrick Norén

— 2 min read
US Air Force 916th Civil Engineering Flight conduct four-day exercise, including CBRN
US Air Force staff sergeant Erikah Lawson works to collect a simulated hazardous material sample during the four-day exercise at Seymour Johnson Air Force Base. US Air Force

Airmen from the US Air Force 916th Civil Engineering Flight conducted a training exercise from 5-8 February to strengthen deployment readiness and reinforce critical life-saving and operational skills, including in response to CBRN incidents.

The training, which took place at Seymour Johnson Air Force Base in North Carolina, brought together personnel from fire protection, emergency management and explosive ordnance disposal.

According to information released by the US Air Force, senior master sergeant Brian Harness, fire chief for the 916th CEF, said the exercise allowed them to "knock out a bunch of different core tasks that we need to function at a deployed location", adding that "a lot of this is training we don’t get to do every weekend".

Throughout the exercise, airmen practiced convoy operations, tactical combat casualty care and mass casualty response, including tourniquet application, wound packing and rapid treatment techniques. The exercise encompassed both classroom instruction and field operations, emphasising life-saving actions that may be required during attacks in deployed environments.

US Air Force emergency management specialist conducting CBRN training at Seymour Johnson Air Force Base. US Air Force

Furthermore, emergency management airmen practiced hazardous material sampling alongside live-fire training, rehearsing procedures required during CBRN incidents. During the scenario, airmen operated in mission oriented protective posture level 4 to collect a sample of a simulated suspicious substance, while another team worked from the CBRN control centre to track and plot contamination using CBRN information sharing.

"During an attack scenario, as emergency responders, fire, EOD and emergency management all play a vital role in assessing damage and ensuring the base is safe from foreign objects or contamination," said US Air Force tech. sergeant Tiffany Vaile, 916th CEF emergency management specialist. "Having a four-day joint training with our Civil Engineering Flight makes the scenarios more realistic."

According to the US Air Force, Vaile added that having emergency management train alongside fire protection and explosive ordnance disposal improved team coordination. "It gives you an understanding of how each career field works towards a common goal," she said.

A full gallery from the training can be viewed here.

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