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Hoosier Sentry: Indiana Showcases Nuclear Attack Preparedness

Indiana Exercise Shows that First Responders Can Successfully Integrate with the Military

June 7, 2007
By Diane Mack

When the Department of Defense approached the Indiana Department of Homeland Security about its state capital being the site of a 10 kiloton nuclear detonation in the largest exercise ever conducted, Indiana's reaction was swift and fierce: "Do you know what happens in this racing state in the month of May?" But never one to turn down a challenge, the Indiana Department of Homeland Security (IDHS) and its local partners stepped up to the plate and in a mere six months, planned and carried out a massive exercise for a catastrophic nuclear event that involved more than 1,500 state and local players.

What came to be known as the Hoosier Sentry exercise was the centerpiece of the U.S. Northern Command's (NORTHCOM's) Ardent Sentry, a national level exercise, and in partnership with the Indiana National Guard's Vigilant Guard exercise, involved nearly 5,500 players.

Hoosier Sentry was a continuous 72-hour state and local response to a nuclear attack. The Muscatatuck Urban Training Center (MUTC) was the primary response site with 12 training lanes, including a mock prison with prison riots; rubble piles from partially-destroyed buildings that contained trapped mannequins and a buried laboratory; a shopping mall with radiation-contaminated shoppers; a hospital where casualties with varying stages of radiation poisoning, burns, and blindness received medical aid; and high-angle rescue was conducted off of its roof.

The incident command post for MUTC coordinated with Camp Atterbury 50 miles away, where the state's Mobile Command Center was located with the secured Simulation Cell, Joint Operations Center and Joint Information Center. The close coordination of these exercise components enabled the State of Indiana to successfully pull off one of the boldest moves in exercise history - the evacuation and closure of the State Emergency Operations Center (EOC).

With the state's new five-paragraph nuclear operational plan and a joint military/civilian Master Scenario Events List (MSEL), the exercise planning was a significant effort. Although the After Action Reviews are still being conducted, preliminary observations include the following:

  1. NIMS Implementation: More education and institutionalization of the National Incident Management System (NIMS) is needed across all levels (federal, state, and local) and jurisdictions. Especially noted were the need for the Multi-Agency Command structure in the EOCs and strong incident management teams.
  2. Mobile Command Center Integration: In an event this catastrophic, the roles and responsibilities of state command/operations centers can change and require definition in advance. ICS 400 does not currently include this function.
  3. Critical Incident Management System (CIMS): A fully functional CIMS, which is unified across state and local jurisdictions, and is accessible by federal agencies, is essential. Implementation of such a system will require complete reconsideration of resource management protocols.
  4. Civilian/Military Interactions: Indiana received praise from FEMA and others for the very evident cooperation between civilian public safety, IDHS, and the Indiana National Guard, calling the cooperation a model for the rest of the nation. Continued joint training at the unit level is needed for the learning process between military and civilian responders to evolve, and the Guard's reactionary force and the civilian SWAT elements are already planning future training events together.
  5. Task Forces: Indiana's regional task forces integrated successfully. District Task Force 7 fully integrated their operations with other jurisdictions at Muscatatuck.
  6. Continuity of Operations (COOP): IDHS's transition of operations from the State Emergency Operations Center to the State Mobile Command Center was virtually seamless, as observed by federal, state and local partners.
  7. Exercise Planning: Integrated civilian/military exercises should begin planning 1-2 years in advance to allow for appropriate funding and integrated planning efforts.
  8. Catastrophic Planning: The combined exercises highlighted the castastrophic planning aspects such as evacuation, Emergency Support Function (ESF) integration, and impressions 1-7 above, which are necessary for every state and territory.

The integrated exercise was considered a positive experience by all participants at federal, state and local levels. Indiana Homeland Security Executive Director J. Eric Dietz stated, "Indiana is a more prepared state for having participated in this exercise. Hoosier Sentry was a success from which future exercises and responses will benefit." Indiana's Exercise Officer Ken Woodall also noted, "I tip my hat to all of the dedicated personnel that participated in this unprecedented event and their desire to learn and work to make Indiana a safer place to live." Military and civilian responders can and should work together, and these combined exercises - Hoosier Sentry, Vigilant Guard and Ardent Sentry - have demonstrated that they can work together successfully.

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