News from New York State Division of Military & Naval Affairs

For more information contact: Lt. Col. Richard Goldenberg at (518) 786-4581 or on site (518) 225-6637

National Guard Elements to Train Alongside New York City’s Bravest

Media Advisory for National Guard and FDNY joint training exercise

NEW YORK (04/28/2008; 1444)(readMedia)-- New York National Guard Soldiers, Airman and volunteers of the New York Guard will mobilize and deploy from across the state this weekend to prepare the state’s military forces for Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear or High Explosive (CBRNE) incidents.

The National Guard will train alongside the City of New York Fire Department (FDNY) at the fire training academy on Randall’s Island to strengthen the coordination, liaison, techniques and procedures for employing the New York National Guard’s premiere CBRNE response elements to assist civil authorities.

WHO: More than five hundred members of New York State’s Military Forces converge in New York City to train incident response alongside hundreds of emergency responders from the City of New York.

WHAT: Operation Civil Support is a Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear and High Explosive incident response training exercise to prepare members of the New York National Guard for support to civilian authorities with assessment, casualty extraction, decontamination and medical triage. The training exercise at the FDNY training academy site will include a realistic scenario with simulated casualties, debris, and the challenges of a response in an urban area.

The exercise provides members of the National Guard’s response teams to learn from the FDNY and EMS members and their expertise in the core competencies of search and rescue, structural evacuation and CBRNE/HAZMAT life safety and mass decontamination.

WHEN: Saturday, May 3, 2008. Media are invited to observe the ongoing exercise and interview leaders and participants between 11 am and 1 pm.

WHERE: FDNY Fire Training Academy, Randall’s Island, New York City. The 27-acre waterfront facility has nine buildings including both classrooms and hands-on training with simulated fires and smoke structures.

BACKGROUND: The New York National Guard currently maintains a full-time Civil Support Team (CST) whose 22 members are trained, certified and equipped to augment civil authorities to rapidly identify, assess and respond to homeland security Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD) or hazardous materials (HAZMAT) events.

The team is further enhanced by a traditional National Guard CBRNE Enhanced Response Force Package (CERFP). Its 300 Soldiers, Airmen and N.Y. Guard volunteers mobilize and deploy with equipment to provide emergency responders with additional CBRNE casualty extraction, decontamination and triage for the evacuation and initial treatment assessment of victims of a chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear, high explosive or other hazardous materials incident.

The exercise will draw upon elements of the Army National Guard, Air National Guard and the all-volunteer New York Guard. An Air National Guard C-5A from the 105th Airlift Wing in Newburgh, N.Y. will transport Army National Guard engineer elements and their equipment from Niagara Falls to Newburgh as part of the response training.

City and Westchester area residents may notice an increase in military traffic and convoys as members of the National Guard converge in New York City for the training exercise.

The N.Y. National Guard regularly trains these elements to support civil authorities and elements of the CST routinely perform homeland security missions in support of law enforcement officials throughout New York City during key events.

The Fire Department of New York City (FDNY) has the responsibility for protecting the citizens and property of New York City's five boroughs from fires and fire hazards, providing emergency medical services, technical rescue as well as providing first response to biological, chemical and radioactive hazards. The FDNY is the largest municipal fire department in the world with approximately 11,400 uniformed officers and firefighters.

Media members interested in covering the training exercise should contact Lt. Col. Richard Goldenberg with the New York National Guard Public Affairs Office at (518) 786-4581 no later than noon on Friday, May 2 to arrange access to the training academy, a secure facility. Media should be prepared to show photo identification for access to the fire training academy or any New York State military installation.

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