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As an amateur, I felt honored to have been asked to participate in a special exercise at
Camp Gruber. Since I have participated in numerous special activities, events and emergency preparedness exercises, I thought that I was 'prepared' for just about anything that might come along. I have had various experiences in which equipment problems, or unexpected obstacles occurred and I have had to ‘adapt’ or ‘improvise’. Therefore, when I realized on the trip down that I had left the rotor control box for the beam at home, I thought to myself, "Not a problem! I have a rope in the tower trailer. I will just improvise."
When we first arrived at Camp Gruber we went through a gate and got our instructions for where we were to set up. We were led to Tent City. There were several tents set up with generators for DMAT. I got my first hint that I might not really be as prepared for the exercise as I first thought, when Joseph Nosak, a Seabee, asked if I had a gas mask for chemical warfare.
Nevertheless, our Amateur Radio group proceeded with our mission. KD5JGA, Eddie Chandler, was stationed at the Command Center Tent to receive ATV. KD5DLL, Mark Duensing, was stationed at Tent City to transmit ATV of the DMAT and Hospital tents to the Command Center. KB5HMZ, Tom Roininen, and I (N5PMP) were sent to Liberty Village to shoot live and tape delay of the actual events. Liberty Village was about two miles north of Tent City. The original plan was to have two live feeds to the Command Center, one on 1.2g and the other on 70cm. There were problems getting the 1.2g gear to work, so we switched over to 70cm. This caused interference with Tom’s 70cm transmission. Not a problem! This group "plays well with others" and knows how to "share". We simply took turns transmitting.
Tom and I set up the tower trailer with a 30-element beam -- a rope tied to the back end for rotation. We ran electric from the Molouge building. Tom set up the camera and transmitters and we were up and running in less than 20 minutes.
Screams were coming from everywhere! "Walking wounded", bombing victims, victims of chemical warfare and gunshots were everywhere. Terrorists had attacked the village. Young people from the Civil Air Patrol provided a very realistic portrayal of a very serious event. I decided to take a video camera around the village and get an assessment for the Command Center. I strolled north through town. I saw several Marines on lookout from a tall building. Other Marines were assessing the area and trying to calm the victims. I had noticed the ‘observers’ wearing orange vests. They would talk to me and let me know if the building had anything going on... with comments like "that building is full of Marines." I would walk in shooting video and then move on to the next area.
While heading back south in the middle of town, I was told to "hold my position" and "state my business" by a Marine on top of the tallest building. I told him who I was and what I was doing. He told me to proceed with caution and to keep my hands where he could seem them. He kept his M16 aimed at me until he had lost sight of me. Then the next Marine shouted, "I got him." I proceeded on. However, I thought to myself "it really was about time that someone asked me what I was doing." Shortly after this event an observer told me how well I handled the situation. He said it was excellent training for the soldier because they had been told that everyone without the orange vests were to be considered ‘victims’ or "The Enemy"... and since I was not wearing an orange vest... Well...
Shortly after that, I located a downed helicopter and its’ decapitated pilot. Then, I returned to the tower trailer and we transmitted the videotape. Some of the officers in charge of the scene at Liberty Village stopped by and asked "what" and "how" we were doing. They asked me if I wanted to go to their observation area. On top of the observation building, I was shown the Command Center and the view from their vantage point.
Later on, they came back to the transmitter location and asked me to come along to the next exercise site. It was a building where a bomb had exploded. As a result of the explosion, there was a downed power line and numerous victims. It was a busy area. I would say at least fifteen victims. People with unknown chemical agents on their bodies, amputated legs, missing arms, fatalities, a bomb in a stairwell and the previously mentioned power line. The officers wanted to see how many rescuers would touch the power line or the victim lying on top of it. I was told once again about the orange vests and how they wished that I had one. I proceeded to find a good place to sit back and record the power line and the victim on top of it. I filmed three Marines and one Navy corpsman, as well as the two victims that they were trying to rescue from the building... Killed by touching the power line (or the victim lying on top of it). After the 6 additional fatalities, someone finally realized what was happening and found the circuit breaker box to shut the power off. Rescue efforts continued.
They had removed most of the victims out of the building, but still had several waiting for transport out of the area. That’s when it happened! A plume of green smoke blew into the area. None of us were prepared. All of the victims that had not been transported to Tent City and the remaining military personnel had been fatally gassed. If this had been an actual event... N5PMP/SK...
As the exercise came to a conclusion, there were many comments, such as "I didn’t know Amateur Radio could do that", many "Thank
you", and "Please come back" which made our participation worthwhile. However, while I am sure that this group of amateurs can set up and operate in any emergency on almost any band or mode, it is still in the back of my mind... Do we carry gas masks around in our emergency preparedness kits? Take time... now... to reevaluate your emergency preparedness kit. Are there areas that we as a club and as individuals can improve so that we can truly be assets (not casualties) to our communities?
You might think about it before you respond to the next disaster where terrorism may be the cause.
James Green N5PMP
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