JOINT BASE LANGLEY-EUSTIS, Va. –
As
Joint Base Langley-Eustis service members pay their respects to the United
States Marine Corps and United States Navy, in their tragic loss on July 10,
2017, real-world and exercise incidents are used as reminders to our service
members that accidents or incidents are a reality in military life and it is
why service members need to be ready to respond at any time.
Thoughout
the year, Joint Base Langley-Eustis service members are tested to make sure
they are prepared for any real-world scenario that may be thrown their way. Recently the 633rd Air Base Wing and 1st
Fighter Wing evaluated their capabilities by conducting an aircraft
incident/crash exercise at Langley Air Force Base, July 11, 2017.
“Exercises
are utilized to inspect and evaluate our capabilities; however, they are also a
time to learn from our mistakes and improve our processes,” said Randall
Renaud, 633rd Air Base Wing inspector general exercise program manager. “This
exercise was no different; we will be able to learn from this exercise and
better prepare our personnel to be ready in the event an incident does occur.”
The
purpose of the exercise was to provide functional area training to minimize
loss of life and injuries while teaching Airmen how to respond to an aircraft mishap
or crash in a real-world event.
When
an aircraft incident or mishap occurs, the emergency responding personnel range
from fire protection to bio-environmental.
“Every
one of the Airmen as individuals contributes to the entire team to ensure that
things are done correctly and in a timely manner,” said Staff Sgt. Ionnis
Gousis a 633d Aerospace Medicine Squadron Bioenvironmental engineering
craftsman.. “Each member played a crucial role in this incident and we have
supreme confidence in their ability to respond in any scenario whether real
world or exercise.”
According
to Renaud, exercises are not about a score or making an organization look good
or bad. They are about finding out areas
of improvement and ensuring we provide our Airmen the resources and time they
need to continuously improve.
“This event was
successful because of personnel from all five wings on JBLE,” said Renuad
“Overall, most of the objectives were met and we will be able to learn from
this exercise and better prepare our personnel to be ready in the event an
incident does occur.