New York Naval Militia conducts emergency drill on Seneca Lake, July 15 and 16

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A New York Naval Militia landing craft, like this one docked on the Hudson River in May, will take part in a two day exercise on Seneca Lake on July 15-16.

OVID, NEW YORK (07/13/2022) (readMedia)-- Two New York Naval Militia patrol boats and 35 Naval Militia members will conduct an emergency response exercise on Seneca Lake on July 15 and 16 using the Scouts Camp Babcock-Hovey, near Ovid, as a base.

The exercise scenario calls for the Naval Militia boats and personnel to smulate post storm response actions on Seneca Lake, while taking part in a larger radio communications exercise which will involve people across New York.

The drill, dubbed Empire Challenge, will test the Naval Militia members skills as boat operators and also train the Sailors who man their command post trailer.

The New York State Department of Homeland Security and Emergency Services will also be involved in the communications exercise, as will members of the New York Guard, the state's uniformed defense force. About 100 people located across the state will participate in the emergency communications component of the exercise.

The Civil Air Patrol, the official auxiliary of the Air Force, whose civilian members assist in search and rescue operations, will take part in the communications portion of the drill as well.

The boats will be trailered to Sampson State Park and launched into the lake there.

On Saturday afternoon, the two boats will travel up Seneca Lake into the Erie Canal, and from there to Lake Ontario and the St. Lawrence River to Alexandria Bay to conduct another rescue drill with the United States Coast Guard and Navy Reserve medical personnel

"Exercises like Empire Challenge provide our Naval Militia members with opportunities to practice skills that would be required in an actual emergency response," said Naval Militia Rear Admiral Larry Weill, the commander of the New York Naval Militia.

"The training on Seneca Lake will be unique in that our people will be to test three new means of radio communications, which is always one of the biggest challenges in any operational environment," he said.

The New York Naval Militia is a component of the New York Military Forces, which also includes the Army and Air National Guard and the New York Guard.

The Naval Militia is composed of 2,800 current Navy, Marine Corps and Coast Guard Reserve members who agree to serve in the Naval Militia as well as in their federal military reserve unit. They put the skills they've acquired in federal military service to work for New York.

There are also a small number of members who are no longer drilling Reservists or are retired members of the Navy, Marine Corps or Coast Guard.

The Naval Militia operates the Military Emergency Boat service, a fleet of 11 boats which conduct missions in support of New York State, the Coast Guard, and other federal and local law enforcement agencies.

The two boats being used in the exercise will be the PB (for patrol boat) 281, a 28-foot patrol boat based in Buffalo, and the LC (for landing craft) 350, a 35-foot landing craft based in Coxsackie on the Hudson River.

The radio communications portion of the exercise will involve communications with National Guard headquarters in Buffalo and Latham. The drill will also involve the short-wave emergency radio network operated by the New York Guard.

The exercise in Alexandria Bay will involve 12 Naval Militia members who are crewing LC-350 and PB-281. The training scenario calls for them to rescue people who have been blown into the St. Lawrence River during a storm.

The "victims" recovered in the river will be transported on shore and turned over to members of the Navy Reserve Medical Training Unit, based in Portsmouth, Virginia, for treatment.