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Nellis plays in national exercise

Air Combat Command News

Release Date: 8/26/2003

By Capt. Kelly Cahalan Air Warfare Center Public Affairs

8/26/2003 - NELLIS AIR FORCE BASE, Nev. (ACCNS) -- Operations, logistics and medical experts here assisted state and federal agencies in a simulated nation-wide battle against the pneumonic plague, wild fires and bad weather this week.

The exercise, Determined Promise 03, was designed to test U.S. Northern Command's organizational structure and the Military Assistance to Civil Authorities mission.

The main focus of DP-03 is a simulated bio-terrorism event in Clark County, which encompasses Las Vegas and Nellis. The exercise, which runs from Aug 18-28, began with local county authorities dealing with an outbreak of pneumonic plague and rapidly escalating involvement from other state and federal resources, including Nellis.

The other disaster areas in the national exercise include fires throughout the Western states and a hurricane in the Southeast.

On the first day, the base received the Strategic National Stockpile of medical assets. A team from the 99th Medical Group helped the team from the Center for Disease Control breakdown the stockpile for distribution to various locations around the state.

"Typically, and depending on location, the stockpile is normally handled by a private company. Given the location and scenario, this exercise is providing us with a great opportunity to train with other state and federal agencies," said Lt. Col. Mark Deysher, 99th Medical Operations Squadron specialty flight commander.

Once the stockpile was shipped from Nellis, the exercise focus shifted to Naval Air Station Fallon and the Clark County Fairgrounds in Logandale, Nev., where the Nevada and Arizona National Guard, state, county and city officials will be tested on a number of events, including responding to a simulated terrorist laboratory and dispensing medication.

Nellis exercise coordinator, Bob Jones, said DP-03 is a great test for the various agencies to test internal procedures, but more importantly provides an opportunity to work the interaction processes and communications between the different agencies.

"Nellis is a vital link in the exercise and Team Nellis continues to pull together to get the mission done, while supporting a robust Red Flag exercise," he said.

"At the same time, we're strengthening our own processes through training opportunities we wouldn't normally have -- a chance to practice with the Strategic National Stockpile and fine-tuning some of our existing emergency checklist," he said. "We're truly taking full advantage of the opportunities Determined Promise 03 presented us with."