Take An Inside Look At A Large Civilian / Military Search and Rescue Operation / Training - "Angel Thunder"

            
It is nice to have the opportunity to blog about something in my life other than the Cape Vincent wind and water issues.         
      Hope some of my readers will find this post interesting.

       This post was cleared by the U.S. Air Force " Angel Thunder"
                     Operations Public Information Officer.

              That too was a new blogging experience for me!

As I mentioned in a previous post, I was  involved with my search and rescue unit in a joint military/civilian search and rescue (SAR) exercise called  Angel Thunder.  Part of this operation took place in N. AZ in our county, as well as in other places across the American SW.  

              http://www.dm.af.mil/library/angelthunder2013.asp
                 

       Description of Angel Thunder from Rescue Global;

"Westminster London 0900 23rd April 2014
Rescue Global have been conducting intense training along with the integration of both new Pathfinder team members and equipment in preparation for their participation in Angel Thunder – the largest and most realistic joint service, multinational, inter-agency search and rescue exercise designed to provide training and testing at the highest level. The exercise will be held in Arizona during the first two weeks of May."



              Scene From Operation Angel Thunder that took place the last week in N. AZ.

       A helicopter crew chief directs an Air Force volunteer Civil Air Patrol ground team to safely board a AZ National Guard Blackhawk helicopter in a remote forest meadow.  They will be transported to a mass  casualty scene where a fictional village and American consulate have been attacked  by hostile forces.  When the scene has been secured by elite Air Force

 combat rescue forces (PJ's), our teams will search for and give  medical aid to

the victims who have fled the village and are lost and injured. The Air Force

 PJ's will give more medical aid then evacuate them by helicopter to a hospital.

 

 

 

I have been blessed with some very interesting and exciting opportunities, in my life and a wonderful wife who is willing to put up with them.  (or participates as my partner)!

This was a real interesting experience to say the least!  I was honored to be  invited by my sheriff’s dept. SAR commander to participate with some of the US military elite combat SAR rescue forces the Air Forces Combat SAR "PJ's"  The same guys who rescue soldiers and pilots behind enemy lines!  State side they also assist civilian SAR units like ours, and we have worked with them real time on some of our SAR incidents.  So this training was valuable practice for everyone. 

In the night scope video I shot below our SAR team works with the Air Force PJ's out of Nellis AF base Las Vegas, on a real civilian SAR mission.  Look carefully and you can see the PJ's being hoisted into the helo.

 

The Angel Thunder scenario for our team was that we were a SAR team from a fictional small country  faced with several mass casualty incidents over a couple of days and had to deal with those incidents. 

 The scenario included the fact that our small country would be overwhelmed by these incidents and we would have to request assistance from the U.S. military. 

Our operation would include assistance from our elite Air Force special forces Pararescue Jumpers called PJ’s. The same guys you see on the National Geographic Channel program “Combat Rescue’ with their extremely sophisticated UH 60 Pave Hawk combat rescue helicopters.   More about the "PJs" at the video link below.

Having worked with some with these guys in civilian SAR operations...take my word for it...these are real serious dudes!!!
 

http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2011/09/04/a-look-at-one-the-u-s-militarys-most-elite-special-forces-usaf-pararescue/

 Also included were French special forces and Swedish special forces.   Then there was AZ Air National Guard and AZ Army National Guard as well as the Air Force Civilian Air Patrol, or CAP.

This could be like any number of current world SAR scenarios, Mayalsian Flt. 370, the captive girls in Nigeria, or the Ukraine  where U.S. military forces might be requested.

In addition an elite  private SAR group called Rescue Global was participating with us. Bear Grylls of the Discovery Channel show Man vs. Wild is associated with this group, although he was not at this operation.

http://www.rescueglobal.org/who-we-are

The particular incidents we faced were that a village had been attacked by “hostile forces” and many were dead or critically injured, and many had fled the village and scattered into remote forest and mountain terrain and were probably lost and injured.  

We had to first search for them,  give medical first aid, and then call for US military assistance.

Of course there was the possibility that “hostiles” were still in the area, and before we could do our SAR operations we had to call for the special combat SAR rescue forces to secure the area, and assist with medical aid and then evacuate the wounded by helicopter.

My role in this day one scenario was in the Incident Command (ICS) command post as the Deputy Operations Section Chief. 
 

 

In the high tech  National Guard communications command post.  I brief one of our SAR team leaders about his assignment on a map on a high tech flat screen touch screen monitor. It scrolls and annotates like the big TV monitors you see on CNN.

 

 

               The very sophisticated National Guard mobile communications command post trailer.

                           We watch helicopters in the Angel Thunder operation from a
                                           remote camera outside the command trailer.
                                      Thanks to the AZ Air National Guard guys for
                                             letting us use their command post.

               The planning and ops sections size up the incident from intelligence and makes a plan to respond to it.  The plan is then given to us in operations to develop appropriate and safe strategies and  tactics for the operation and safely assign appropriate resources in the right places with the appropriate equipment and expertise including the request for the elite Air Force PJs and other military units.

It gets intense as reports come in from the field and conditions are dramatically changing minute to minute  and you have to react to them. 

 In most of my SAR experience we don’t have to deal with  “hostile forces”.  That was a new twist for me!  Although we have been on SAR missions where we find out the guys we are searching for are “bad guys” with weapons.  Then we back off and law enforcement takes over.

The day two scenario was an American consulate had been attacked and the staff and American journalist and Peace Corps. worker had fled into remote terrain and were probably lost and  injured. I was sweating in anticipation of this one!

My role this day was in the field as a division supervisor.  Operations told me in general terms what they wanted done, and I had in the field supervision over 3 SAR teams. I was to develop on the spot tactics from the field perspective and direct the SAR operation from the remote field location with these teams.

 

Directing SAR teams to search for our two injured victims, and keeping in communication with the command post as to what is happening in the field.  Since our teams found our victims and they were critically injured, I'm requesting the Air Force PJ.s and their helicopter for medical assistance and evacuation.

 The computer in the vehicle has sophisticated map software on which by GPS shows my exact location real time and I can plot locations of important events happening in the field.  I can also provide the precise location of field teams to helicopters and the command post.  Plotting the incident on the computer map provides me with a big overview of what is happening in the whole incident and a detailed map of the terrain in and around the incident.  If I have cell data coverage I can split the screen and have a topo map on one side and a Google Earth satellite image on the other side. Each searcher carries a GPS unit, and when they return we can also down load GPS tracks and see on a map exactly where they have searched.  When we respond in the dark or bad weather this technology is incredibly helpful.  I once had to direct an exhausted SAR team in a mountain blizzard at 10,000 ft. to safety using this technology from a remote location based on their GPS reports of their location.

 

In the video below the Air Force PJ's arrive on our SAR scene to evacuate the injured. 

  

I am fortunate to have been trained  the Air Force and Nat. Park Service at Grand Canyon in SAR management, and have experience helping to manage numerous SAR incidents, but this would be a hand full and especially considering the eyes of the elite Air Force PJ special combat SAR forces would be watching and participating.  Thought maybe an old guy like me at 63 had bitten off more than I could chew.  But it all went pretty well although it was intense!  It really pushed my skills.

National Guard Blackhawks pick up the CAP SAR ground team and transports them home to Phoenix.  See video below.

    Myself and my assistant didn't get a  ride in the helicopters.  We had a bumpy ride back to the command post on a rough 4wd road to have a debriefing to see how we did.

                        Fortunately we got a favorable review!

          Thanks to the Air Force and the Coconino County, AZ
       Sheriffs Office, and my SAR Team for this unique experience!!