IRF joint training, critical to maintain nuclear assets

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman Jaeda Tookes
  • 341st Missile Wing Public Affairs
MALMSTROM AIR FORCE BASE, Mont. --  Members of Malmstrom’s incident response force and local agency officials completed training Aug. 9, in preparation for an upcoming exercise to better understand roles and responsibilities during a nuclear accident incident response.

The training was administered by members of U.S. Strategic Command’s response training force and is an annual requirement for all IRF personnel stationed at Air Force Global Strike Command nuclear bases.

In the event of an emergency situation involving nuclear assets, USSTRATCOM would take the lead of the military side of the response force in conjunction with several federal agencies to include the Department of Energy and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

Conducting training in a joint environment is important to success during a real-world scenario.

“Members from the state and the local community fit into our unified command,” said Rodney Wise, USSTRATCOM program analyst. “They are the eyes and ears of the town.”

According to Eric Brown, USSTRATCOM RTF training program manager, IRF service members have to know how to respond and work with civilian and federal agencies without using technical terms or jargon while also understanding and maintain operational security.

“The purpose of the training is to prepare for (a nuclear situation) we hope never happens,” said Brown. “Response force team members have to know the roles of other agencies, locally and stateside, and learn the required steps in preventing future incidents.”

Attendees were taught how to best mitigate considerations of an incident including objectivity during the situation, having a strategy, the use of tactics and resources.

“We want to make sure members have the ability to respond and manage the incident,” said Brown. “We must also learn to develop an incident (prevention) mindset first.”

“When disaster happens we tend to assume the worst, and decisions can sometimes be made quickly,” said Wise.

According to Wise, a person cannot be successful maintaining and mitigating a nuclear situation, but at the same time, be unsuccessful communicating with local authorities in a positive and effective manner.

The class taught the five different phases of emergency management: prevention, mitigation, preparedness, response and recovery.

“We have to learn how to respond, and work with outside agencies,” said Brown.