News United States Air Force
 ANG specialized team returns to in-person, combined training to support domestic operationsPublished April 15, 2022
                        
                        By Maj. Angela Walz
                        
                        
                        162nd Wing
                **LAS VEGAS (AFNS)  --**
                Tech. Sgt. Rhoda Smith (right) and Msgt Antonio Jurado, 162nd FSS Specialists, review data on the National Guard’s interoperability network platform that is used by the CERFP components for command and control communications.Master Sgt. Antonio Jurado and Tech. Sgt. Rhoda Smith, both 162nd Force Support Squadron specialists, review data on the National Guard’s interoperability network platform that is used by the Chemical, Biological, Radiological/Nuclear, and Explosive-Enhanced Response Force Package components for command-and-control communications, April 13, 2022. The exercise participants responded to a simulated chemical contamination that required tent set-up and refrigeration units within 90 minutes, a detailed search and recovery within their assigned sector, and coordination with the local medical examiner to assist with the removal of victims. (U.S. Air Force photo by Maj. Angela Walz)
            
            
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An 11-person Fatality Search and Recovery Team, or FSRT, from the **Air National Guard**’s **162nd Force Support Squadron** traveled to Las Vegas this week to conduct in-person combined training with other Air and **Army National Guard** units that make up the **Federal Emergency Management Agency**’s Region 9 Chemical, Biological, Radiological/Nuclear, and Explosive-Enhanced Response Force Package, or CERFP, to once again train to support domestic operations if called upon to do so.
The training event garnered the attention of distinguished visitors including: **Brig. Gen. Troy Armstrong**, Nevada Army National Guard Land Component commander; Mr. John Lee, mayor of North Las Vegas; Mr. James Gibson, Clark County commissioner; Lt. Col. Ryan Avery, 162nd Force Support Squadron commander; Chief Master Sgt. Raul Verdugo, 162nd FSS senior enlisted leader; and several Congressional staffers.
The CERFP, as well as the FSRT from Tucson, will be recertified next year in a similar training event.
“This is a volunteer mission, and our Airmen go into it knowing that they will likely exceed their traditional one weekend per month, two weeks per year obligation due to the amount of training involved,” Avery said. “These are dedicated men and women who give us the flexibility to fulfill our National Guard motto. We really are ‘Always Ready, Always There.’”
For real-world scenarios, the FSRT is prepared to travel with two large climate-controlled tents, two large refrigeration units, three Polaris Rangers for adverse travel conditions, and communications equipment to support their fatality recovery mission. FSRT members travel on “special training” orders to accomplish the extensive training required of their mission.
The additional training that is required of FSRT members does not impose a burden on the individual Guard units, however.
“As a Homeland Defense mission, funding to support CERFPs comes from a different pot of money,” Verdugo explained. “We can support state and federal missions as dictated by our governor, but the FSRT intent is to support the CERFP mission in the southwestern region of United States.”From left, Staff Sgt. Alejandro Guzman, Tech. Sgt. Christine Sulwer, and Master Sgt. Rachael Kargol, 162nd FSS Specialists, erect a massive tent structure for use during an in-person combined training event with other Air and Army National Guard units this week in Las Vegas.Staff Sgt. Alejandro Guzman, Tech. Sgt. Christine Sulwer, and Master Sgt. Rachael Kargol, 162nd Force Support Squadron specialists, erect a tent during an in-person combined training event with other Air and Army National Guard units this week in Las Vegas, Nev., April 14, 2022. An 11-person Fatality Search and Recovery Team conducted an in-person combined training with other Air and Army National Guard units that make up the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s Region 9 Chemical, Biological, Radiological/Nuclear, and Explosive-Enhanced Response Force Package (U.S. Air Force photo by Maj. Angela Walz)
            
            
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    Capt. Jacob Thoman, 162nd FSS FSRT Officer in Charge (OIC), answers questions from Observation Control Team members during an in-person combined training event with other Air and Army National Guard units this week in Las Vegas. As the OIC, Capt. Thoman oversees the Tucson FSRT.Capt. Jacob Thoman, 162nd Force Support Squadron Fatality Search and Recovery Team officer in charge, right, answers questions from Observation Control Team members during an in-person combined training event with other Air and Army National Guard in Las Vegas, Nev. This was the first Chemical, Biological, Radiological/Nuclear, and Explosive -Enhanced Response Force Package training since 2019 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. (U.S. Air Force photo by Maj. Angela Walz)
            
            
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    Master Sgt. Rachael Kargol and Staff Sgt. Alejandro Guzman, FSS Specialists who have volunteered for the 162nd FSS FSRT mission, mark the location of simulated human remains during an in-person combined training event with other Air and Army National Guard units this week in Las Vegas.Master Sgt. Rachael Kargol and Staff Sgt. Alejandro Guzman, 162nd Force Support Squadron specialists who have volunteered for the Fatality Search and Recovery Team mission, mark the location of simulated human remains during an in-person combined training event with other Air and Army National Guard units in Las Vegas, Nev., April 14, 2022. This was the first Chemical, Biological, Radiological/Nuclear, and Explosive -Enhanced Response Force Package training since 2019 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. (U.S. Air Force photo by Maj. Angela Walz)
            
            
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Although CERFPs haven’t met since mid-2019 to conduct in-person training, the six teams that make up the Region 9 CERFP picked up right where they left off. The Region 9 CERFP composed of 11 members for FSRT; 16 members for command and control; 45 members for medical; 75 members for decontamination; 50 members for search and extraction; and six members for joint incident site communications capability.
The scenario that was created to support the exercise in Las Vegas was built from a Pima County playbook and included a sulfur incident in which a large area was chemically contaminated on the campus of The University of Arizona. Each CERFP component had specific objectives. The FSRT’s goals were to complete the initial set-up of their tents and refrigeration units within 90 minutes, conduct a detailed search and recovery within their assigned sector of the contamination area, and coordinate with the local medical examiner to assist with the removal of victims.
“It was great to train again as a team and practice what we do in support of domestic operations,” said Capt. Jacob Thoman, 162nd FSS officer in charge of the FSRT. “The more we practice, the more proficient we become.”
The FEMA Region 9 office is located in Oakland, California, and oversees federal emergency management for the states of Arizona, California, Hawaii, Nevada, and the territories of Guam, American Samoa, the Commonwealth of Northern Mariana Islands and the Federated States of Micronesia.LR 



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