Capitol Region National Guard Members Participate in Major Exercise

• by New York State Division of Military & Naval Affairs

LATHAM, NY (11/02/2009)(readMedia)-- Capital Region National Guard Soldiers and Airmen are participating in Exercise Vigilant Guard, a major civil-military disaster response exercise in Western New York, at the New York State National Guard's Joint Operating Center here.

The Guardsmen are training on the command and control functions they would execute in actual state emergency. Members of the media are welcome to visit the Joint Operations Center to observe the training and speak with National Guard members about their mission.

WHO: About 30 members of the New York Army and Air National Guard who live in the Capital Region.

WHAT: Joint Operations Center training for members of Joint Forces Headquarters- New York who would man the state-of-the art control center in an actual state emergency. The JOC allows the Adjutant General to command the 20,000 members of New York's Military Forces when directed by Gov. David Paterson.

WHEN: Now through Nov. 5.

WHERE: Division of Military and Naval Affairs Headquarters, 330 Old Niskayuna Road, Latham.

Coverage Opportunities:

Visual Imagery of the New York National Guard Joint Operations Center fully manned and running, with TV feeds and briefings charts projected on five screens. Opportunities for interviews with participating National Guard Soldiers and Airmen are available.

BACKGROUND:

Vigilant Guard:

Vigilant Guard is a national-level disaster response exercise conducted four times a year by the National Guard Bureau and the United States Northern Command in conjunction with civilian first responders and local governments around the United States.

This Vigilant Guard exercise, the first conducted by the New York National guard, simulates New York National Guard response to a 5.9 Richter scale earthquake hitting the Buffalo-Niagara Falls region. In the exercise scenario, Gov. David Paterson has directed the New York National Guard to move forces and specialized teams into the region to assist Erie County and Niagara County officials in responding to a major disaster that has left hundreds dead, power out, and buildings collapsed.

Almost 1,800 National Guard Soldiers and Airmen from across New York, and from the States of Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, Vermont, Connecticut, and even the U.S. Virgin Islands, are participating in the exercise, replicating the process governor's employ to share emergency resources. National Guard teams will be conducting hazardous materials detection drills in Niagara Falls and Lockport, and specialized teams from New York and Pennsylvania will be simulating the search for casualties at a "rubble pile" in the City of Tonawanda especially constructed to replicate a collapsed hospital.

The New York National Guard Joint Operations Center (JOC):

Opened in February 2008, the New York National Guard JOC is a state-of-the-art command and control center modeled on the ones New York National Guard personnel have manned in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The center uses state-of-the-art computer, and audio/visual technology to integrate information in the most efficient way possible, allowing the Adjutant General to make decisions rapidly, with the most up-to-date information, as part of New York's incident command structure. There are five video projectors, installed by Albany Audio Video Corp., which can be used to project the image from any computer in the operations center, video being sent from National Guard helicopters, maps, briefing charts, and television feeds.

The commander can use digital tools to make notations on those screens and send the information out to subordinate commands around the state. The facility can communicate with the State Emergency Management Office command center and other state agencies, and National Guard facilities by secure LAN, and telephones. Satellite communications equipment can be used if required. A backup generator is available which ensure that the JOC can operate even during a power shortage.

For more information, contact Mr. Eric Durr at 518-786-4581. For daily updates on Exercise Vigilant Guard go to the Vigilant Guard journal at the New York National Guard website at http://dmna.state.ny.us/blog/journal.php?journal=1254502561

Follow Exercise Vigilant Guard on Facebook and Twitter:

FaceBook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/New-York-Army-National-Guard/112535293973?ref=search&sid=100000443776901.3155842963..1

Twitter: http://twitter.com/NationalGuardNY

Video will be available at:http://dmna.state.ny.us/video/ and on YouTube at http://www.youtube.com/nynationalguard