MARE tests Sheppard's response to disaster

  • Published
  • By Airman 1st Class Jacob Corbin
  • 82nd Training Wing Public Affairs
SHEPPARD AIR FORCE BASE, Texas --  After facing a disastrous tornado one week before, Team Sheppard once again faced a challenge. This time though, a T-38 had crashed, the fate of its pilots unknown.

For the second time in two weeks Sheppard was given the chance to show how it responds to a crisis, this time it was a major accident response exercise.

The exercise, entitled "Scarlet Hawk," featured the scenario of a T-38 Talon crashing on base.

It lasted the majority of the afternoon as personnel from across Sheppard played their parts and responded to the incident.

"The overall objective of the exercise was to exercise the system," said Maj. Werner Keidel, the 80th Flying Training Wing inspector general and plans officer.

Major Keidel also said it was a test of Sheppard's response to a disaster and its command and control of a situation.

"Exercises ensure we are able to respond rapidly and effectively to a situation," he said.

It was the first time Sheppard's new emergency operations center, which replaces the previous system of the disaster control group, responded to a major accident after the restructuring.

Major Keidel said that Sheppard did well, minus the usual minor complications, such as streamlining the flow of information.

"There is always the fog-of-war," he said. "It's one of those things you're constantly trying to improve."

Once again, real-world concerns helped remind Team Sheppard why exercises are held. A T-37 experienced smoke in the cockpit, causing the base fire department to respond. Fortunately the real-world incident was minor, and the base fire departments role in the exercise was nearly completed already.