By Maj. Penny Zamora, 157th Infantry Brigade, Public Affairs
CAMP ATTERBURY-MUSCATATUCK, Ind. – The Vibrant Response exercise held this month, at Muscatatuck Urban Training Center near Butlerville, Indiana, had all participants concentrated on the task at hand.
In this exercise, more than 5,000 Soldiers from the National Guard, U. S. Army Reserves and active duty components converged across several central and southern Indiana locations, to respond to a catastrophic domestic incident.
More than 80 Soldiers of the 157th Infantry Brigade, First Army Division East acted as trainer/mentors during this annual two-week Vibrant Response 13-2 exercise.
The 157th Infantry Brigade trainer/mentor team was tightly focused on assisting exercise participants to improve their decision making processes.
Two of the observer/controller/trainers, Maj. Scott Bullions and Capt. Philip Bucci, tracked the 415th Chemical Brigade and subordinate unit missions on a whiteboard.
“Our job is to help units shape the discussion after each mission for self-discovered solutions,” explained Col. Brandt Deck, Commander of the 157th Infantry Brigade, First Army Division East. “We have to do everything we can to prepare these Soldiers for this special mission. I am very proud of our trainer/mentor role here at Vibrant Response.”
In one part of the exercise, Sgt. 1st Class Dusty Beam, an observer/controller/trainer, with the 157th Infantry Brigade, observed a Soldier of the 468th Engineer Detachment (Firefighters), out of Danvers, Mass., decontaminate a displaced civilian.
“We saw their decision-making process and their tactics, techniques and procedures to roll out and complete their mission. Our job is to help them get better as they evaluate themselves. The unit needs to work out what works best for themselves.” – Sgt. First Class Dusty Beam, a trainer/mentor with the 157th Infantry Brigade.
In another area, the firefighter soldiers of the 468th Engineer Detachment evacuated people injured from a simulated collapsed parking garage.
Spc. Jacob Schwab, Spc. Jillian Williams and Pfc. Lynette Hill were three soldiers from the 377th Chemical Battalion, 415th Chemical Brigade, taking part in the simulated decontamination of non-ambulatory displaced civilians.
The 157th Infantry Brigade is an active and reserve component unit based in Indiana, at Camp Atterbury. They are responsible for training selected US Army Reserve and National Guard units. They are part of First Army Division East.
By Maj. Penny Zamora, 157th Infantry Brigade, Public Affairs
