Mass casualty accident tests unit readiness

[SR-25]

Training keeps Rangers on toes

Spc. Eliamar Castanon
Bayonet staff

Day 13 of phase three of Ranger School at the 6th Ranger Training Battalion, Camp Rudder, Fla. - swamp phase.

Mission - air assault over Auxiliary Field 7.

Two Blackhawks flown by student pilots from Fort Rucker, Ala., drop off the first load of Rangers. They go back to pick up the second load. They are seen over the field as they return for the second drop. That's when it happened.

The blades of both "hawks" collided with each other in midair. The birds go down.

The final bloody count, two deaths - a crew member and a Ranger student - 29 wounded.

Relax, it's only a training exercise. There are no injuries, deaths or Blackhawks down. The Mass Casualty event, or MASCAL, is an annual training requirement held at each Ranger Training Battalion to assess the readiness of the battalion as well as the emergency support groups in the surrounding areas, said Lt. Col. Darcy Brewer, 6th RTBn. commander. "We receive the accident report and we try to respond and record accordingly. We involve everybody from the Ranger instructors all the way up to the Eglin Disaster Control Center."

"We take the most (realistic) thing that can happen and go with it," said Capt. Matt Kuhn, battalion adjutant. "We try not to stage it and we make it as real as possible."

The casualties were covered in simulated blood, had very realistic burns and some had to fake having broken bones. Each victim was given a specific injury on a note card that had to be identified by the medics who assessed them. The surviving casualties were laid out around the field and suffered everything from minor burns to open chest wounds and major head trauma.

"The role players were the best I've ever seen," said Col. K.K. Chin, Ranger Training Brigade commander. "They really knew how to act."

Spc. Jonathan Hoggat participated in three MASCAL's as a Ranger and said they get better every year.

"Each year it's a different scenario and different outside agencies come in to help," Hoggat said. "It gets really intense. Everybody is being torn in different directions trying to help wherever they can. If a real accident of this magnitude happened, we'd be able to handle it."

The airfield was over-run by Rangers, personnel from the Eglin Air Force Base fire department, the EMS team from Okaloosa County, the 249th MEDEVAC team and 6th RTBn. medics, running to aid any survivors.

The Rangers who were already on the ground rushed to the site and began training the casualties for the medics. As soon as the medics arrived they began treating the survivors' injuries and setting them up, according to their injuries, to be either medevaced or taken by ambulance.

All the victims were medevaced to the Fort Walton Beach Hospital where they were treated as real victims in the emergency room. The hospital requested a certain number of victims to meet their annual training requirement, Kuhn said. The exercise was not complete until all the victims were properly cared for.

"It's as real as is gets," Kuhn said.

A Disaster Control Group Command post was set up at the crash site to command and control the various assets, the situation and the casualty evacuation. On the scene, an Exercise Evaluation Team from Eglin Air Force Base was evaluating the performance of the different emergency support groups. Each evaluator observed a specific area and ensured the appropriate steps were being taken with each casualty, said Air Force Master Sgt. Brian Ward, EET chief.

The training exercise enhanced the battalion's ability to react to a MASCAL situation by solidifying the cohesion of both military and civilian response assets.