NY National Guard Soldiers Prepare for Disasters in Westchester

VALHALLA, N.Y. (08/08/2013)(readMedia)-- More than 400 New York National Guard Soldiers and Airmen will test their ability to respond to a train derailment and chemical spill August 8-11 at the Westchester County Fire Training Center here.

They'll be joined by 200 Soldiers and Airmen from the New Jersey National Guard as they conduct the annual training evaluation for the Federal Emergency Management Region II Homeland Response Force.

WHAT: Hazardous material disaster response training to prepare National Guard elements to support first responders

WHO: Members of the Homeland Response Force Chemical, Biological, Radiological or Nuclear response element.

WHEN: Friday, August 9 at 1 p.m.

WHERE: Westchester County Fire Training Center, 4 Dana Road, Valhalla, N.Y. 10595

Media Opportunity:

Visual imagery of National Guard response forces in hazardous material protective gear conducting training to extract, decontaminate and triage casualties of a potential hazardous material incident. For access to this training site, news reporters must contact New York National Guard Col. Richard Goldenberg, 518-727-7314.

Background

Homeland Response Force Region II

The Homeland Response Force Region II, or HRF, is one of ten established by the Department of Defense to assist state officials in dealing with chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear attacks and incidents across the United States. The ten HRFs are designed to assist or relieve local first responders in support of FEMA during a major terrorist attack or chemical, biological, radiological, or nuclear incident.

FEMA Region II includes Puerto Rico and the American Virgin Islands as well as New York and New Jersey.

The military dubs these kinds of incidents CBRN which stands for Chemical, Biological, Radiological, and Nuclear.

The 600 Soldiers and Airmen of the HRF are trained to search for and extract victims from disaster sites--and do so in hazardous materials suits if necessary-decontaminate the victims if needed, and conduct basic medical treatment.

The team trains under Defense Department guidelines to respond within a 6-12 hour window to local authorities after a CBRN or other hazardous materials incident requiring assistance from federal military resources. The force is equipped to respond via ground transport to an incident site, but is capable of air transportation to support all the states or territories responding to a CBRNE event.

The scenario for this training exercise is a train derailment that results in chemical spills that threaten communities near the site of the accident. National Guard HRF elements will train in their tasks to support civil authorities.

The HRF is designed to foster increased dialogue between regional first responders and other state and federal response agencies. The HRF plays an important role at the regional level in helping develop and build regional plans and in working with emergency managers to build a cohesive government response to CBRNE incidents at the regional level.

The major units that comprise the HRF include:

• The 42nd Infantry Division Headquarters, based in Troy, N.Y. provides overall command and control of the organization.

• The 104th Military Police Battalion Headquarters, based in Kingston, N.Y., provides command of the CBRNE response elements at the incident site.

• The 1156th Engineer Company, located in Kingston, N.Y. provides engineers trained for the extraction and evacuation of casualties.

• The 222nd Chemical Company, based at Fort Hamilton, N.Y., operates the decontamination element.

• The New York Guard volunteers of the 88th Brigade, based primarily in New York City, augment the decontamination line.

• Wings of the New York Air National Guard all contribute medical personnel for the triage and transfer of casualties for civilian medical treatment.

• Security personnel from the New Jersey National Guard include members of the 328th Military Police Company from Cherry Hill, N.J., 253rd Transportation Company from Cape May Court House, N.J., and Security Forces of the 108th Air Refueling Wing from Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, N.J. and the 177th Fighter Wing from Egg Harbor Township, N.J.

The HRF Region II Facebook page can be found here: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Homeland-Response-Force-Region-II/170590573068531

Imagery from training in 2012 can be found here: http://dmna.ny.gov/blog/journal.php?journal=1336740788