31st MEU (SOC) ENBC suits up for exercise
MArine Corps News
12/12/2002
Story by Sgt. S. K. D'Alessio
CAMP KINSER, Okinawa, Japan (December 10, 2002) -- The 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU) Special Operations Capable (SOC) Enhanced Nuclear Biological Chemical Defense (ENBC) Team recently reconfirmed its capabilities and improved its technical skills in a meticulous and intricate disaster scenario.
Their mission was to conduct an ENBC survey, evacuation and limited decontamination in one of many potential sites of a terrorist attack. The exercise allowed the ENBC team to display its capabilities of providing clearance for follow-on forces to conduct mass casualty and disaster relief operations in a safe environment.
The MEU's Aviation Combat Element, Marine Medium Helicopter Squadron 262, provided the team with airlift from its home at Camp Hansen via two of its CH-53E "Super Stallion" helicopters. The Hansen LZ (landing zone) was a simulation of a helicopter-landing deck aboard one of the USS Essex (LHD-2) Amphibious Ready Group ships, where the MEU operates while underway.
After the helicopters were loaded with pallets of an assortment of high-tech nuclear and biological detection and decontamination equipment, the team boarded and buckled up for a high-speed flight to an abandoned building here, deemed contaminated as part of the scenario.
Once at the site, the survey team quickly suited up in their full-body Chemtrel suits and oxygen tanks to assess the damage and its cause. Meanwhile, the "decon" team assembled its decontamination tent and routed a water source for the showers and scrub-down baths.
Two members entered the contaminated building, using its equipment and technical knowledge to detect harmful substances such as nerve and blood agents. Inside the building, they found several casualties in various degrees of harmful exposure and an improvised explosive device (IED), more commonly referred to as a pipe bomb.
According to Lance Cpl. Kalei Pe'a, MEU NBC defense specialist and Hilo, Hawaii native, the survey team saw all the evidence it needed to kick into high gear and clear the way for disaster relief personnel to do their jobs. The scenario had already posed a situation unlike any he and his teammates were accustomed to.
Immediately, Pe'a and his teammate called back to the command post for assistance in casualty evacuation and bomb disposal. He knew the lives of others potentially hung in the balance of his actions.
"I've never had to deal with so many casualties before during training," Pe'a said. "Right away, we realized we had to conserve more air in our tanks, because it took longer than usual to complete the mission. It's the unexpected things, though, that make us more prepared for real-world missions and enhance our basic skills."
The Explosive Ordnance Disposal technicians arrived with their gear to take care of the IED. As it turned out, the bomb was built in such a way that the best means of disposal would have been to detonate it. So, casualties were evacuated and transported to the 'decon' site quickly and carefully as the EOD team prepared to detonate the device in place.
"Our overall goal was to find our shortcomings and see what we can and cannot do when it comes down to performing a real mission," said SSgt. La-Mel Jones, a Brooklyn, N.Y., native, and MEU EOD technician. "This was our first time using 'helo' support for a mission, and it turned out to be valuable training. Of course, we always learn to adapt to changing situations."
After sending the casualties through the decontamination tent and treating them, the team assessed the situation, and as a sign of its experience, packed up as urgently as it came. Without the ENBC team's speed, knowledge and efficiency, Pe'a said he knows the entire MEU would be against strong odds.
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