MARINE CORPS AIR STATION IWAKUNI, Japan -- Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni simulated a power outage during exercise Active Shield 2011 here March 1.
During the simulated exercise, station Facilities was called in to stage, hook up and power a generator that would back up buildings without an emergency power system.
“In a real-life scenario, if this had actually happened, we would need generators for all the important buildings to be fitted with emergency power,” said Petty Officer 1st Class, Adrian Scott, a station Facilities construction electrician.
During the simulation, Facilities responded to a complete disruption of power from a source located off baseAdditional utilities were affected by the electrical outage such as sewage lift stations, the waste water treatment plant, potable water pumps and additional facilities aboard the air station not permanently equipped with backup power.
“The importance is to be selfsufficient,” Scott said. “If the power goes out on the base, the Facilities Department needs to find a way to get power with electricians and generators fast.”
Most buildings are equipped with an emergency power source that turns on the generator and transfers the power automatically from the stationary source to the emergency generator as soon as the power goes out.
With the help of station Motor Transport, a generator was transported to Building 114, unloaded and hooked up.
“The exercise went very smooth. This one was easy,” said Scott. “The effectiveness and efficiency of our department working with Motor-T was aptly demonstrated through this exercise.”
As quickly and efficiently as Facilities had powered on the generator, the simulation ended and the generator was disconnected, packed up and put away, ready in case of an emergency.