The White Falcon - 13.08.1993, Blaðsíða 6

Exercise participants learn valuable lessons
By J02 Carlos Bongioannl
Now that Northern Viking (NV) is over,
it’s time to reflect and prepare for the future.
Every command on board Naval Air Station
(NAS), Keflavik, was affected during the
exercise. Whether things went awry or ac-
cording to plan, base leaders agreed that the
exercise was beneficial in every aspect.
“Preparation is the key,” said Col. Thomas
Allen, Commander, Air Forces Iceland. “We
found some areas where we didn’t prepare as
well as we might have, but that actually
builds for us our training program for the next
year.”
Allot also stated how worthwhile and fruit-
ful the exercise was in pulling all the different
components together and making it every-
thing work.
Not only did the Air Force and Navy prac-
tice air base-defense with their F-15 fighters,
Pavehawk Rescue helicopters and P-3 Orion
aircrafts, but they also had AW ACS from
Tinker Air Force Base, Okla., participate in
the exercise as well as Army Chinook heli-
copters.
NAS Commanding Officer CAPT Charles
Butler said he was particularly impressed
with how prepared the support forces from
the states were. “Compared to the last exer-
cise, I can safely say we’ve taken a gigantic
step forward. These exercises give us a chance
to work together and help us prevent poten-
tial problems with break downs, communica-
tions and differences in (military) cultures.”
One of the big players of the exercise was
the Fire Dept, which responded to no less
than 16 emergency calls during a three day
period of NV ‘93. “When we participate in
these exercises, we leant valuable informa-
tion, while keeping our skills sharp,” H
marked Astvaldur Eiriksson, Deputy Fiml
Chief. “In a real event, we won’t speculate,
but we’ll know what to do.”
Overall, the evaluators that watched over
the planned drills said they were impressed
with the enthusiasm displayed by base par-
ticipants. “There was a real sense of ur-
gency,” said MSgt. Thomas Butler, 35th Wing
evaluator. “People seemed to take the exer-
cise seriously.”
Members of the 932nd Air Control Squadron in Rockville participate in a bomb
drill that required office personnel to don their chemical gear while continuing
their essential work. (Photo by J03 (SW) Andreas Walter)
1
The Fire Dept, and Hospital responded to numerous emergency calls during Northern Viking. Above left, Fireman J6n Th6r Gunnarsson
simulates opening a main water line during a fire drill at the Air Force Communications and Computer Systems Flight. Above right, HM3
Steven Pavlik, Hospital Corpman, tends to one of the 42 injured at a mass casualty drill that involved a simulated bomb explosion at Naval,
Computer, Telecommunication Station. (Photos by J02 Carlos Bongioanni)
6 The White Falcon