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First responders with American Medical Response secure simulated victims in an ambulance during the Anti-Terrorism/Force Protection Exercise Lethal Breeze, aboard Marine Corps Base Hawaii (MCBH), Sept.12, 2017. The exercise combined multiple agencies, on and off the installation, to respond to a simulated attack, mass casualty scenario, and an environmental oil spill. Exercise Lethal Breeze provided hands-on experience and training to prepare MCBH to protect personnel, facilities, and other assets from all threats and hazards. (U.S. Marine Corps Photo by Sgt. Alex Kouns)

Photo by Sgt. Alex Kouns

Local, State and Federal agencies unite with MCBH for Exercise Lethal Breeze 2017

18 Sep 2017 | Cpl. Jesus SepulvedaTorres Marine Corps Base Hawaii

Across the base, cellphones ring and buzz as a mass text alerts residents and employees to seek shelter in place for a lockdown. Sirens and screams can be heard from the marina as bodies and smoke fill the picture of a terrorist attack.
“Exercise! Exercise! Exercise!” can be heard over radio chatter as base safety officials and evaluators begin the annual Anti-Terrorism/Force Protection Exercise Lethal Breeze aboard Marine Corps Base Hawaii (MCBH) on Sept. 12, 2017.
Exercise Lethal Breeze provides hands-on experience and training to prepare the installation to protect personnel, facilities and assets from all threat hazards, to include man-made and natural disasters, as well as implement security/response measures.
The exercise combined local, state and federal agencies to respond to a simulated attack, mass casualty scenario, and an environmental oil spill.
A simulated terrorist attack on the base’s marina included a guided drone crashing and detonating near the pier, sinking a barge and lighting the oil spilled on fire. During the chaos, 30 role players acted as casualties with various injuries ranging from impalements and burns to smoke inhalation.
Directing the exercise was Jacqueline Freeland, the installation protection officer for Marine Corps Base Hawaii.
She said the exercise was tailored to base and outside organizations, including emergency medical personnel, law enforcement and firefighters.
“The attack began with first responders arriving at the pier, assessing casualties and cordoning off the area,” Freeland said. “After casualties were taken away and the notional fire put out, law enforcement stepped in with explosive ordinance disposal to preserve the crime scene for investigation. The exercise ended with the recovery stage, where water front operations handled cleaning the oil spillage and helped preserve natural resources.”
Freeland said that all personnel should self-reflect on their procedures and that this was a learning experience as well.
“I hope everyone here leaves with three or four good things that they remember in case something really happens in the future that they can personally improve on,” she said. “The base can improve on incorporating better procedures for how we handle emergency situations.”
Overseeing and evaluating personnel at the second location of Exercise Lethal Breeze was Master Sgt. Shane Whited, the EOD staff noncommissioned officer in charge with Headquarters Battalion, MCBH.
“On this side of the island we are staging an attempted terrorist attack where the device failed to function,” he said. “We have EOD on scene trying to figure out what makes up this particular device, how it functions, what type of explosives it holds while working alongside Naval Criminal Investigative Service and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.”
Whited said keeping information as cohesive and precise as possible will streamline the response during an emergency, especially when there are mass casualties.
“As far as the external agencies, we made sure our memorandum of understanding and memorandum of agreement was up to date and in place and we are all functioning together as one unit,” he said. “Now is the time to do those improvements because it’s better to sweat in training than to bleed in war. All the possible mishaps and mistakes that are happening today won’t be happening during the actual emergency.”
As the director of the exercise, Freeland said Exercise Lethal Breeze is an overall opportunity to let the base feel reassured that support from the island will come when an emergency occurs.
“We can expect there to be a lot of support from outside agencies if we’re the victims of an incident,” she said. “Vice versa, if an emergency happened on the island, then the state and country would expect support from the military.”           

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