By Master Sgt. Richard B. Hodges

BEAUFORT, S.C. – Lt. Col. Paul Laymon, commander 

of the South Carolina National Guard’s 43rd 

Civil Support Team, received a phone call early 

this morning informing him of a potential crisis 

situation in historic Bluffton, S.C. As a participant 

in the massive Vigilant Guard 2008 exercise taking 

place in Beaufort County, Laymon immediately 

assembled his advance team of six CST first 

responders and proceeded to the Palmetto Breeze 

Busing Co., site of the emergency scenario.

The South Carolina National Guard is hosting 

Vigilant Guard 2008, a National Guard Bureausponsored exercise designed to test the ability 

of the National Guard, along with federal, state, 

and local first responders, to react to a domestic 

emergency. This year’s scenario began with a mock 

7.3 earthquake centered in Beaufort County. Aftereffects of the earthquake will result in more than 

50 various exercise-related scenarios at incident 

site locations throughout the county.

The Vigilant Guard exercise call to Laymon 

came from the South Carolina Joint Operations 

Center. It informed him that Bluffton first 

responders had responded to a call at a local bus 

company where two unconscious employees were 

found and a ‘strange smell’ was present. Following 

emergency procedures Bluffton first responders 

removed the victims and evacuated the area. Then 

they immediately contacted the South Carolina 

National Guard and requested assistance. Within 

30 minutes, Laymon’s 43rd CST advanced on-site 

team was assembled and enroute to Bluffton. 

Arriving just after 8 a.m., the CST commander met 

with the incident commander, Fire Chief Barry 

Turner of the Bluffton Fire District who along with 

Asst. Chief John Thompson, were on-scene.

As a resource of the S.C. National Guard, the 

43rd CST is available upon request to assist local 

responders throughout the state in potentially 

SAND GNAT 

Issue 2 - Volume 1

April 22, 2008

43rd Civil Support Team assists local fire district 

By Bill Boehm

BEAUFORT, S.C. - Cooled by pleasant breezes 

and warmed by the ever-present sun, the city of 

Beaufort (pronounced bew-fert) is South Carolina’s 

second oldest city, founded in 1711. Beaufort’s 

marine setting, marshy lowlands, and lush 

vegetation comprise today’s relaxed surrounding 

in what is known as the “Low Country.” 

Beaufort also holds the distinction as the site 

where South Carolinians drafted the Ordnance of 

Secession, the document that eventually guided 

the state of South Carolina to secede from the 

Union in December 1860. Four months later, in 

April 1861, the first shots of the Civil War were 

fired at Fort Sumter in Charleston harbor, 50 miles 

north. That War, as most know, divided the nation 

and wounded the Southern United States for many 

years, well beyond the war’s end in 1865.

On April 21-24, 2008, however, Beaufort 

Beaufort and Charleston, S.C.: Still making history today

Two members of the Recon/Survey element of the South Carolina’s 43rd Civil Support Team, 

conduct an initial sweep of a suspicious area as part of the Vigilant Guard exercise held in the 

Beaufort, S.C. area Apr. 21. (National Guard photo by Master Sgt. Phillip Jones) (RELEASED) 

Charleston, S.C., in the aftermath of the earthquake that struck on Aug. 31, 1886. (Photographer 

unknown; courtesy of South Carolina Department of Natural Resources)

Page 1 of 2
hazardous situations that may include nuclear, 

biological and chemical contingencies.

“We’re here to help the incident commander 

in assessing and responding to the situation,” 

Laymon explained. 

The ADVON (Advanced Echelon) team, as 

well as the whole CST, is here to advise, assist and 

report to the incident commander so that he or 

she can make informed decisions as to the proper 

response, according to said Tech. Sgt. Bryan Barnes, 

43rd CST medical noncommissioned officer.

“The ADVON team comes in first to make sure 

it’s safe for the rest of the team to come in,” said 

Barnes. “We’ll go in and do a quick survey to ensure 

the hazard is contained and that we’re not setting 

up our footprint in the plume.”

Barnes explained that the ADVON team 

is representative of the entire CST, “We have a 

commander and deputy commander, a medical 

NCO and a physician’s assistant along with a lab 

officer (nuclear-medical-science officer), as well as 

a reconnaissance/survey element.”

The 43rd CST, the only joint Army-Air 

National Guard unit in the state, is located in West 

Columbia, S.C., and is made up of 22 full-time 

National Guard members.

Based on the initial information received, 

Laymon and the CST ADVON team went to the 

busing company while the rest of the CST team 

remained behind at a safe distance of six miles. 

Later, after Laymon determined that the entire 

team was needed and the area was safe, they were 

deployed to the site.

Laymon explained that the unit’s main body 

remains six miles out awaiting his instructions after 

a reconnaissance, survey or pre-monitoring test 

of the area is conducted. The unit sweeps the area 

before bringing in the whole team.

“Safety is paramount,” said Laymon. “My job 

is to make sure the area is safe for troops on the 

ground.”

Three of the reconnaissance element/

survey team members, Air Guardsman Master Sgt. 

Matt Sullivan and Tech. Sgt. Anthony Whigham, 

along with S.C. Army Guard member Sgt. Edward 

Edgerton all suited up in full protective gear which 

included rubber suits, gloves, boots, protective 

masks and self-contained breathing apparatus 

prior to conducting their sweep of the area.

Using a modified military version of the John 

Deere ‘Gator,’ one team member drove the tracked 

vehicle while the other two monitored the area for 

contaminants. The Vigilant Guard exercise assists 

both the Guard’s CST as well as local responders 

in working together as a team in the event of “real 

world” contingencies in the future.

“This exercise helps prepare us for future 

events such as natural disasters,” said Bluffton 

Township Fire Chief Barry Turner. “It gives us the 

opportunity to work with the National Guard and 

they with us.”

NEWS BRIEFS

WEATHER

Today

MOSTLY SUNNY TEMP 78 F

PRECIP 10% HUMD 58%

Tomorrow

ISOLATED T-STORMS TEMP 79 F

PRECIP 30% HUMD 62%

serves as host to the site of something 

representative of this nation’s unity, not its 

dysfunction. Here, the South Carolina National 

Guard administers Operation Vigilant Guard, 

serving to train its personnel in a simulated 

earthquake disaster exercise. The local Beaufort 

community, as well as the government of 

Beaufort County and other associated emergency 

management agencies, is participating in the 

exercise. The National Guard Bureau sent its Public 

Affairs Rapid Response Team (PARRT) to assist the 

South Carolina Guard in its duties. The disaster 

in this case is an earthquake centered in the Low 

Country, near the city of Charleston.

Besides Beaufort, only Charleston is older 

among South Carolina cities. A fabled Atlantic port 

city founded in 1670, Charleston became the most 

important trade center in the southern Colonies 

during British rule, a status that continued into 

the period after the United States achieved its 

independence after the end of the Revolutionary 

War. It remains to this day one of our country’s best 

preserved cities, with scores of historic buildings, 

and a sense of place unmatched elsewhere in the 

modern South. 

The disaster scenario for which the National 

Guard is practicing holds historical precedent. 

On August 31, 1886, Charleston experienced a 

serious earthquake that was felt as far away as 

Boston, Massachusetts, located about 1000 miles 

north. Ninety-two people died in the disaster, 

and property damage totaled millions of dollars. 

Scientists considered this tremor the worst in the 

modern history of the southeastern United States. 

This occurred a long time ago. Why should 

an earthquake that occurred 122 years ago even 

matter? This event carries great relevance because 

it vividly illustrates the havoc that natural disasters 

can cause. Presently, what local citizens in South 

Carolina and elsewhere care about is this: how 

will community leaders respond when bridges are 

damaged, or if fire or civil unrest commence in the 

aftermath of such a disaster? 

Though this occurrence took place long 

ago in relative time, it is important to note that 

aftershocks from the quake took place nearly 

100 years after the event. And, according to 

the South Carolina Seismic Network based at 

the University of South Carolina in Columbia, 

many seismic events ranging from the 3.0 to 4.3 

magnitude on the Richter scale took place in the 

area from 2000-2005. This footnote underscores 

the need to maintain a high level of readiness 

and a prepared first response team in order to 

anticipate the possibility of such an event. Recent 

natural disasters such as the Loma Prieta, California 

earthquake of 1989 drive this point home.

National Guard underscores the necessity 

for practice in anticipation of natural calamity. 

Certainly, history has ways of repeating itself, and 

only we, as citizens of this country, can take note 

and act, so that we may improve our lot in the 

world.

History contINU

CST cont

Indonesia jails and sentences 

‘key al Qaeda ally’

An Indonesian court has sentenced the alleged 

military commander of an al Qaeda-linked 

terror network to 15 years in prison. Abu 

Dujana is the alleged leader of the military wing 

of Jemaah Islamiyah, a group that is thought 

to be linked to al Qaeda. It aims to create a 

Muslim “superstate” across much of Southeast 

Asia. Dujana is accused of direct involvement in 

the Bali nightclub bombings of 2002 that killed 

more than 200, mostly Western, tourists. 

Law enforcement tricked into 

buying faulty grenades

A Georgia military contractor tricked law 

enforcement agencies into buying faulty 

stun grenades, ultimately leaving three FBI 

agents injured, federal prosecutors announced 

Monday. Pyrotechnic Specialties Inc. is accused 

of relabeling and selling “flash-bang” grenades 

that the U.S. military rejected after its personnel 

were injured. 

Teen could have made bomb 

in minutes, police say

A South Carolina high school senior arrested 

in an alleged bomb plot had the ingredients 

to assemble a bomb in minutes, police said 

Monday. Ryan Schallenberger, 18, was arrested 

Saturday after his parents called police when 

10 pounds of ammonium nitrate, an oxidizing 

agent in explosives, was delivered to their 

home in Chesterfield, near the North Carolina 

border, Chief Randall Lear of the Chesterfield 

Police Department said.

SAFETY TIP

“Safety - Never Off Dut

Safety is something to be practiced both “on” 

and “off” duty. Never forget to keep safety in 

mind when at work or play. Safety is a 24/7 

operation.

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