Exercise, 'suspicious package', helps agencies train together

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  • By Staff Reports
  • 100th Air Refueling Wing Public Affairs
RAF MILDENHALL, England --  A joint training exercise brought agencies from RAFs Mildenhall and Lakenheath together here May 23. 

As part of the training, responders from the 100th Civil Engineer Squadron Fire Department, 100th CES Readiness and Emergency Management, 100th Security Forces Squadron, 48th Aerospace Medicine Squadron Bioenvironmental Engineering, and the 48th Civil Engineer Squadron Explosive Ordnance Disposal responded when a "suspicious package with a white powder on it" was discovered near Dorm 212, and reported to the 100th SFS. 

Security forces troops were dispatched to secure the scene and establish an entry control point, then the fire department arrived on-scene and assisted the security forces incident commander. 

"The fire department called for emergency decontamination, because of the white powder, and more firefighters arrived on scene to set it up," said Staff Sgt. Sheraz Cedeno, 100th CES Readiness and Emergency Management, and one of the exercise organizers. 

He explained that the incident commander requested EOD make the package safe, which they did along with taking X-rays of the package. 

"The incident commander then called in the emergency managers and bioenvironmental engineers, who then suited up with level-A protection," Sergeant Cedeno said. 

With bio on stand-by as back-up, a two-person team from 100th CES Readiness and Emergency Management suited up, went on-scene and used a variety of detectors capable of checking for gases, volatile organic compounds, toxic industrial chemicals and radiological, biological and chemical agents. 

Exercise sample results showed the powder presented no danger to human life.