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Annual training exercise keeps base emergency responders ready

US Marine Corps News

8/16/2010 By Lance Cpl. John Robbart III , Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton

MARINE CORPS BASE CAMP PENDLETON, Calif. — All of Camp Pendleton’s emergency response services participated in a base-wide training exercise called Vector West, Aug. 12.

Vector West is an annual exercise where personnel conduct and evaluate their readiness for an emergency incident. This year’s scenario involved an incident at the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station. The base’s fire and emergency services enacted their emergency plan for a reception and decontamination center at Paige Field house, Naval Hospital Camp Pendleton, and the 21 Area Fitness Center.

“Its mission essential to be ready to react to any type of hazard in any type of environment,” said Fire Division Chief Bruce D. Wathen, quality control officer, Camp Pendleton Fire and Emergency Services. “Vector West reveals our readiness.

More than 50 personnel participated in the decontamination training.

The inter-service exercise benefits the base by allowing all components of the infrastructure to learn how to work as a cohesive unit.

Camp Pendleton Fire and Emergency Services hazardous materials team is emergency services Type 1 capable, which means it is all mission capable and can be deployed as both a state and federal asset.

Marines from the School of Infantry volunteered for the exercise as potentially contaminated personnel. Role-playing Marines put the SOI Marines through the radiation detectors to check for contamination. If pseudo contamination was detected, personnel went through the decontamination process that included a shower and a change of clothes.

“We learned a lot about the symptoms of radiation and exactly what to do depending on the severity of the situation,” said Pfc. Roman A. Cooper, student, Bravo Company, Infantry Training Battalion, School of Infantry West.

Camp Pendleton Fire and Emergency Services was not the only organization monitoring the event; for the first time, emergency planning technical specialists from Southern California Edison, who are based at SONGS, came to evaluate and assess the performance of the exercise.

“If there was a real threat at SONGS, Camp Pendleton needs to be ready,” said Richard A. Garcia, emergency planning technical specialist, Southern California Edison. “The exercise went well.”