Major accident response tested at Air Force station

  • Published
  • By Tech. Sgt. Eric M. Grill
  • Electronic Systems Center Public Affairs
NEW BOSTON AIR FORCE STATION, N.H. (AFPN) --  A little known Air Force station in New Hampshire was the focal point for hundreds of emergency workers May 15 as they responded to a simulated terrorist attack involving a weapon of mass destruction.

The exercise, named Granite Thunder 2004, encompassed more than 20 local, state and federal agencies to respond to an attack that combined explosives with chemical agents.

New Boston Air Force Station is a small satellite-tracking station that has 12 military and about 120 civilian employees assigned. Besides tracking satellites, the base also has about 2,800 acres of woodlands that are used for recreational purposes like camping, fishing and rock climbing.

What makes Granite Thunder unique for the Air Force is that the military played a support role in the exercise, officials said. The base relies solely on the surrounding communities for fire and medical support.

The exercise tested the ability of people here and local and state emergency responders’ abilities to communicate and interact with each other on a “much grander scale than we have all seen here in New Hampshire since Sept. 11, 2001,” said Lt. Col. Chuck Cynamon, installation commander.

“We had organized chaos, but that is what we would expect if an incident like this were to happen for real. Obviously, the key is to stabilize the situation as quickly as possible,” he said.

To make the exercise as realistic as possible, the details of the scenario were withheld from the participants, including the station commander and local and state emergency responders.

“It took six months of planning, and a lot of coordination to make the exercise as realistic as it was,” said Master Sgt. Carmen Petro, Granite Thunder 2004 coordinator and overall exercise evaluator here.

The exercise scenario allowed emergency response agencies and crews to become familiar with any new equipment or procedures to ensure the proper response in a real-world situation, Sergeant Petro said.

Adding more realism to the exercise was the use of several ground-burst simulators and smoke grenades. Responders also had to put out a car fire.

All responding agencies were staged at or close to the base for practical and safety purposes, Sergeant Petro said.

“We didn’t simulate very much and made sure that timelines for responding crews and equipment were what they would be if they were responding from the local towns,” he said.

Some equipment used in the exercise came from Concord, N.H., about 20 miles from here.

Another objective was to test the lines of communications, working relationships, and the on-scene command and control between the local fire and rescue agencies, the Air Force, and other emergency-response organizations, Sergeant Petro said.

“The hand off from one agency to another was carefully executed and systematic,” Sergeant Petro said. “The interaction between each agency was phenomenal.”

While not part of the exercise scenario, New Hampshire Gov. Craig Benson and New Hampshire state Sen. Robert Clegg, visited the station shortly before the exercise kicked off.

“The governor and senator were extremely impressed with the capabilities of the all-volunteer fire departments that are the lifeline for New Boston AFS,” Colonel Cynamon said. “Overall, this exercise was just as important for New Hampshire’s population as it was for this Air Force installation.”

The participants learned from each other, Sergeant Petro said.

“One of the things that the military learned about the civilian emergency responders here is how to deal with casualties,” Colonel Cynamon said. “The civilian first responders use color codes, [the military does not]. That was one of the language barriers that we had to deal with and a challenge that we overcame.”

With the success of this exercise, organizers might expand the exercise next year, Colonel Cynamon said.