Nearly 75 members of the Maryland Defense Force participated in a major multi-agency disaster exercise at Towson University on April 14, 2010, alongside Maryland Army National Guard Soldiers from the state medical detachment and the 224th Area Support Medical Company. The exercise involved nearly 1000 participants, including several hundred Towson University students who volunteered to be “casualties” and more than 300 Towson University nursing students who trained with MDDF participants and Maryland National Guard medical personnel. Maryland Guard Soldiers and Defense Force participants were responsible for a number of tasks to include triage instruction, medical treatment of injured victims, mentoring nursing students, mental health support and referrals, security, communications and establishment of an operations center and field treatment center. The Maryland Defense Force is a volunteer, uniformed agency of the Maryland Military Department, authorized by Maryland law, with a mission to provide competent professional and technical support to the Maryland National Guard and state civil agencies as ordered by the governor and the adjutant general.