YECHON AIR BASE, Republic of Korea -- An improvised explosive device explodes suddenly and flips over a mine-resistant armor-protected vehicle. Marines are injured. Panic and confusion fills the air.
This was the simulated situation Marines and the Republic of Korea Air Force were challenged with April 13 during a training exercise here.
As soon as the IED exploded, the military police quickly came in to secure the area. A secondary IED was spotted, and within seconds, explosive ordnance disposal was on the scene. Not far behind them were the rescue teams.
Working together, the Marines and ROK airmen were able to gain control of the area and care for any injured.
“It’s good to work with the Koreans and do things together. It paints the big picture, which is good.
A lot of Marines don’t get to see the big picture, so when we get to do things like this, we can better understand a real-life situation,” said Sgt. Joshua R. Teaff, Crash Fire Rescue assistant section leader for Marine Wing Support Squadron 171 and operations chief for the scenario.
Although all service members who participated benefitted from the exercise, it was the Crash Fire Rescue Marines who ultimately benefitted the most.
Crash Fire Rescue trains on a daily basis while at Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni, Japan. However, they rarely get the opportunity to train on anything other than aircraft.
“IEDs and suicide bombers are a real factor. Marines are dying every day from that. It’s a real problem in the war these days, so I think this as a scenario is very realistic, and it’s good practice because most of our firefighters are used to working with aircraft, so when we get the chance to do something other than aircraft, that’s excellent training,” said Teaff.
The ROK airmen played an important role in the training. They worked hand-in-hand with the Marines to achieve the mission, learning to communicate and work together as a team.
“The way (the Koreans) operate is completely different from the way we operate, so we’re kind of gathering a little bit from everybody and putting it into one big operation,” said Staff Sgt. Ladonna Prosser, EOD technician with MWSS-171.
“They took every little aspect in, and everybody got a piece of what could happen. (Military police) were sent out to secure the area, we were sent in to neutralize an IED and our rescue guys actually got to do a little rescuing. I think it was beneficial for everybody.”