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 NEWS
 Vigilant Guard: Voices of experience add to the training By Spc. Robert G. Cooper III
                Indiana National Guard
 BUTLERVILLE, Ind. - The National Guard exercise Vigilant Guard this month is offering service members some of the most in depth and comprehensive training available in crisis management. But that's just the beginning. Besides a realistic crisis environment involving challenging missions and inter-agency coordination, the exercise put to good use the people who observe and train the Soldiers and Airmen. They are called observer-controller-trainers, or OC/T in military jargon. Battle-hardened individuals with years of real-world expertise, OC/T's provide specialized guidance to Soldiers and Airmen during a training exercise, offering on-the-spot advice that can enhance the training. If the training scenarios are the backbone of training, the OC/T is the spinal cord, able to offer information quickly and professionally. For each training exercise, be it search and rescue or medical support, there's an OC/T available to help. When it comes to training missions involving nuclear explosive devices or hazardous material (HAZMAT) operations, Chief Master Sgt. Richard Petrush of the Air National Guard's 175th Wing in Baltimore is the source of sound wisdom and advice. With around 26 years of experience in emergency management, Petrush is the connoisseur of Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear Enhanced Response Package (CERFP) operations. The OC/T's job is to provide the best guidance to Guard members during Vigilant Guard. "Our expertise is all aspects of emergency management and CBRNE defense," Pertrush said. "During Vigilant Guard, we supervise training venues and observe each individual's tactics and procedures. It's all about knowing their capabilities and improving upon them." During a training mission, an OC/T will create the conditions and let the individuals follow through. "We set up the scenario but try not to interfere," Petrush said. "If we see something that needs correcting, we give on the spot counseling designed to make them more proficient at what they do." The more realistic the training, the better, Petrush said. That's what Vigilant Guard exemplifies. "I think this exercise is fantastic," he said. "The challenge is to make the scenarios as real as possible. This training is paramount to being prepared for a real-world event. We try not to have as many simulations because we want to make the venue worthwhile." "We don't want them to go through the motions but to take something with them at the end of the day," Petrush added." Petrush explained the importance of Vigilant Guard when it comes to a domestic emergency in the U.S. "When we have things like Hurricane Katrina and the twin towers, the National Guard finds itself working with civil command structures," he said. "Vigilant Guard is outstanding in that it showcases our capabilities to other agencies. That interaction with civilian counterparts and allowing us to meld into one entity is invaluable training. If we can get that part down, we'll be ready for anything." Petrush said that as an OC/T, the real satisfaction comes from educating each individual Soldier and passing down his experience in the process.
"You never want to take that knowledge with you to the grave," he said. "I think it's fantastic whenever you can pass on information across the full spectrum, both Air, Army and other organizations. It really goes back to my wing's mission: € ̃Educate, Motivate and Independently Evaluate."
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  Vigilant Guard 2007
 
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