Exercise tests emergency management

"Our purpose today is to assess the readiness of different base departments to communicate with each other in order to deliver an effective, integrated emergency response," said NAS Jax Executive Officer Cmdr. Ellis Bowler, who served as the INTEX08 integrated training team leader.

In the exercise, an out-of-control vintage aircraft explodes in a ball of fire after hitting and rupturing a fuel storage tank. Shrapnel and flames rain down on the air show audience, turning an aviation celebration into a disaster zone.

NAS Jax crash crew brought the aircraft fire under control within minutes of arriving at the crash scene.

Air traffic controllers in the operations tower immediately grab their crash phone to notify the fire department for aircraft rescue, firefighting and emergency medical services.

In addition to the fire department, the integrated training team includes personnel from: security and force protection; medical; environmental; safety; airfield services; air terminal services; and public affairs/information.

"While extinguishing the fire, treating the injured, and securing the safety of our people are the highest priority, we also have an environmental issue where spilled fuel flows into a storm drain that empties in the St. Johns River," said Bowler.

The approximately 90-minute drill is now required for any naval air station that hosts an air show.

Firefighters prepare to search the downed plane and surrounding area for victims.

NAS Jax is the first naval air station in the U.S. to execute the aircraft crash with mass casualties drill.

More than 100 station personnel participated in this real-life scenario.

At the initial debrief following the integrated exercise, NAS Jax Commanding Officer Capt. Jack Scorby Jr., observed, "Overall, things went smoothly, but there are always items that require attention. Some personnel are still training on the station's new ELMR (enterprise land mobile radio) network. With these interoperable hand-held radios, our police, fire and emergency medical personnel will all be communicating on the same wavelength."

"We also experienced some transportation challenges that are easy to fix. After our comprehensive debrief next week, everything should be in order for the NAS Jacksonville air show in October," said Scorby.

AW1 Joseph Willard of CPRW-11 was one of the casualties awaiting medical evaluation and treatment.

Steve Parrish, disaster preparedness officer for the NHJ Branch Medical Clinic, reports to Integrated Training Team Leader Cmdr. Ellis Bowler as _____ of VP-30 (center) listens.

Because of the high number of casualties, ambulances were transporting two victims at once to the emergency department at Naval Hospital Jacksonville.

From left: NAS Jax Deputy PAO Kaylee LaRocque discusses a media advisory with NAS Jax Commanding Officer Capt. Jack Scorby Jr., CNRSE Training Coordinator Henry Bugbee and Integrated Training Team Leader Cmdr. Ellis Bowler.