NSA Bahrain Sailors, Bahraini Nationals Train During Desert Sailor '06
Navy NewsStand
Story Number: NNS060314-09
Release Date: 3/14/2006 2:00:00 PM
By Journalist 2nd Class Cassandra Thompson, Commander, U.S. Naval Forces Central Command/Commander, U.S. 5th Fleet Public Affairs
MANAMA, Bahrain (NNS) -- Naval Support Activity (NSA) Bahrain Sailors had the opportunity to train with their host nation counterparts Feb. 13-26, during the Emergency Response Team's (ERT) 8th annual training exercise, Desert Sailor '06.
Desert Sailor is an intensive, two-week program designed to prepare the 80-member ERT to respond to terrorist incidents or natural disasters aboard NSA Bahrain or which involve any other Department of Defense units in Bahrain, including The Bahrain School, Aviation Unit, Mina Salman pier and north ramp.
Bob Massie, director of Emergency Services at NSA Bahrain, said ERT members are divided into various elements, including command and control, logistics, medical, technical rescue, decontamination and fire brigade.
During the first week of the exercise, ERT members received intensive classroom training in accordance with Department of Defense, international and U.S. National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) standards. During the second week, Massie said the members began more specialized training which included collaborating with Bahraini emergency response and civil defense personnel.
“We have four different government of Bahrain agencies that provided 26 of their people to attend our training, including the civil defense fire service, special security forces, Salmaniya Medical Clinic and Bahrain Defense Force,” explained Massie.
Host nation personnel attended hazardous material training and first responder courses at NSA Bahrain. ERT fire brigade members practiced drills at Bahrain's Ministry of the Interior fire training academy in Riffa, and ERT technical rescue personnel conducted rescue operations during a collapsed-structure scenario at a former Bahraini Coast Guard barracks in Bandr Al Dar.
Quartermaster 1st Class Ryan Blake, who joined ERT in November, observed that the Bahraini students were enthusiastic learners.
“They basically jumped right in and participated,” said Blake, from Plymouth, Mass. “A lot of the guys just wanted to get right in there and learn new things.”
Blake said the real-world situations presented at the Bahraini sites made his training more effective than the controlled environments encountered on base.
“On base, we were using the same tools, but it was not as accurate,” he said. “When we were out there [in Riffa], it was a more real-world scenario, because it wasn't controlled.”
At Desert Sailor's conclusion, all participants received certificates of completion.
Blake said the Desert Sailor exercises taught him many new skills, including “a little patience.”
“In a team of 20 different guys, everybody has their own way of doing things,” he said. “We had to learn to work together.”
“At the graduation ceremony, I felt such a sense of accomplishment,” said Construction Electrician 3rd Class Magasela Dickson, from Piscataway , N.J. “We worked so hard and learned so much about how to rescue people or take care of them in emergency situations. But we learned much more about teamwork.”
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