CAMP MPENDLETON, Calif. -- Marine Corps Installations – West, including Marine Corps Air Station Yuma, Az., Marine Corps Logistics Base Barstow, Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, and other regional commands conducted their annual exercise Semper Durus, April 23-27, 2018. Semper Durus is designed to establish a learning environment for personnel to exercise emergency response plans, policies and procedures as they pertain to crisis situations, specifically terrorist attacks on the installation.
“It’s important because it improves capability for sustained regional command and control procedures,” said Lt. Col. Will Chronister, Operations and Planning Director, Marine Corps Installations – West. “It also improves individual installations’ abilities to respond effectively to hazardous events.”
Throughout the four-day exercise, Marines, Sailors and Department of Defense civilian personnel, representing each command coordinated crisis and contingency actions in their own Emergency Operations Centers (EOC).
An EOC is a central command and control facility responsible for pushing information to headquarters elements and on-scene decision makers in order to make decisions that protect lives, property and maintain continuity of the organizations.
“The EOC is the single focal point where all the subject matter experts from every area of Marine Corps Installations – West are able to consolidate information and coordinate actions to build a clear picture for the [Commanding General] to make a decision in a time of crisis,” said Chronister.
One of the events was a simulated bomb threat in a base housing area, which prompted members of the EOC to direct and coordinate the establishment of an Evacuation Control Center (ECC).
“We stood up the [ECC] in order to prepare for possible evacuations of base personnel in the future,” said Jerry Vanlancker, Emergency Manager, Marine Corps Installations – West. “This fits in to [Semper Durus] because it’s the responsibility of the base to ensure that if, in a real event, people have to evacuate, they have a safe place to go to when their being forced out of their homes.”
In addition, there were simulated scenarios across the region, including a suspicious package on MCLB Barstow, an active shooter on MCAS Yuma, a radiological dispersion device detonation on MCAS Camp Pendleton, and a decontamination site at Naval Hospital Camp Pendleton.
The ultimate goal of the Marine Corps in a time of crisis is to be ready when the nation needs us. Exercises like Semper Durus offer clear training objectives for increased proficiency and enhanced capability to provide critical support to our installations while responding to a crisis situation.
“The less you do something, the worse you do it,” said Chronister. “As we routinely do exercises like this throughout the year, it ensures our reaction is strong and our response is proper, if and when a crisis occurs.”