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 NEWS
 Hands that held weapons now hold hope By Spc. Robert G. Cooper III
                Indiana National Guard
 BUTLERVILLE, Ind. - As the Vigilant Guard exercise continues to test National Guard members from around the country, Soldiers from the Indiana Army Guard's 2nd Battalion, 293rd Infantry from Fort Wayne hit the ground running as a reaction force. But in the wake of a simulated 10-kiloton nuclear detonation, the call to fight has been amended to a call for relief. The Vigilant Guard exercise is a combined training project among the National Guard and local, state, and federal emergency agencies. That being the case, many local authorities need as much help as they can get maintaining the security, order and safety of the civilian population. "We're prepared to support the civil services in any way as part of our state mission," said Lt. Col. Jerry Hadley, the battalion's commander. "During this time, our job is to provide any form of incident response within our capabilities." And respond they have. So far, members of the battalion have conducted a numbers of missions at the Indiana National Guard's Muscatatuck Urban Training Center during Vigilant Guard. Some of them include establishing traffic control points, securing the town's power plant and providing limited medical help to victims of the detonation. And with civilian actors there every step of the way, Vigilant Guard guarantees realistic training. "The actors played into it really well," said Staff Sgt. Kevin Hoeppner, a squad leader in B Company. "It helps because it tells you what you need to be prepared for. Now we know how to act in a real life situation." "We've never had training like this before," said Spc. Timothy Black a gun-truck driver for D Company. "Most of our previous training has been for duty against hostile forces. Now, it's Americans helping Americans. It's not weapons-oriented anymore, and you have to approach if from a different side." Hoeppner said that Vigilant Guard reminded him of a real world mission the unit conducted not long ago. "This is a lot like (Hurricane) Katrina," he said. "In this exercise, the governor activates us, we're under his control and we're here to assist and defend. We've had civilians come up to our point needing assistance, so we provide them some medical attention and also get them help from other agencies." Hadley said the real challenge Vigilant Guard presents doesn't come from his soldiers' performance, but from keeping in contact with other agencies. "It's not the mission itself, which we can accomplish; it's the communication," he said. "That's what this training is all about – bringing the people together to actually exercise what happens in a real emergency." Hadley said that there has been some slow reaction in communicating with separate entities, but that alone provides an excellent training aide for future operations. "There's been some frustration here on both the civilian and military side," he said. "We're working out the real issues here so they won't affect us in the future. It's better to have problems during an exercise than to have them in the real world." As far as assurance in their performance, Hoeppner said that the 293rd is ready to assist in any emergency. "We've been to Iraq, we've been to Katrina and we've been trained in multiple exercises," he said. "We're one of the best trained units out there with the best Soldiers and the best leaders." Black agreed. "You've got a confidence level knowing that your fellow Soldiers won't let you down," he said. Black said that at the end of the day, he is happy to be a part of Vigilant Guard. "This (exercise) is typically what the National Guard was designed to do. Any mission where you're helping someone is a good one. It's missions like these that make you feel all warm and fuzzy inside, and it's worth it."
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  Vigilant Guard 2007
 
 9-1-1: Nuclear detonation; Exercise Vigilant Guard tests National Guard's role as first military responder
 By Sgt. Jim Greenhill
  Attaches Survey U.S. Disaster-Response Capabilities
 By Fred W. Baker III
  Vigilant Guard: Voices of experience add to the training
 By Spc. Robert G. Cooper III
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