Admissions Essay for Center of Homeland Defense and Security

I became the Exercise Director on the day of a weapons-of-mass-destruction training event for US&R teams. And I would like to share with you that experience.

The setting: 2018 Sentinel Response - Northern California US&R RDD (radiological dispersion device/dirty bomb) exercise, held in Arco Arena, Sacramento, California. The scenario was set up around a catastrophic 6.8M earthquake along the Hayward Fault. Taking advantage of the aftermath, a Home-Grown Violent Extremist (HGVE) organization, The Brotherhood, detonated a box truck-borne RDD inside the stadium that was serving a refuge for earthquake evacuees. The notional detonation created a structural collapse of the stadium. Large portions of the interior and exterior scene were contaminated by radioactive materials. Three Northern California US&R Task Forces deployed to reinforce first responders on scene and integrate with CBRNE assets from the California National Guard.

The general control objectives for the incident included:

Exercise the National Urban Search & Rescue Response System's "Enhanced Operations in the Contaminated Environment" procedures while conducting US&R operations in a simulated radioactively contaminated structural collapse environment.

Evaluate all US&R Task Force members can safely conduct search, rescue/recovery operations within or near a known or suspected contaminated environment.

Practice the augmentation or assumption of structure collapse search and rescue operations from first responders that are timing out due to radiation exposure.

Conduct "Wide Area Search" using all appropriate means based in part of radiation levels and acceptable exposure to search canines.

Monitor and decontaminate contaminated members of the public, first responders, and equipment.

Working together on tight deadlines can be a challenge, but having prior relationships with the team members on the Planning Team was immensely helpful. As we were already familiar with each other's style of communication and approach to problems, the amount of time typically devoted to getting to know one another was reduced. We instead were able to quickly establish an efficient process that allowed us to work through our goals quickly and effectively. Working in this collaborative environment created by prior relationships enabled us to complete a complex task with a limited timeline.

We integrated previous exercise weaknesses into...…with equipment, training, and joint exercises is essential for continued successbut so too is the recognition that challenges can arise on the spot that will require flexibility of response and even immediate training and support to calm nerves and alleviate fears. From a policy standpoint, I believe that having the National Guard train alongside US&R teams strengthens our core capabilities.

I want to share credit with my Planning Team and Exercise Controllers. I did have the opportunity to run the exercise, but without strong commitment, easy communication, and our understanding of one anothers capabilities, it would not have been smooth. This work effort provided an opportunity for our military and US&R counterparts at the command level to execute their plans side by side.

While the below picture is unorthodox in an essay, it was this photo that caused the chaos and conversation. The picture was the medium and with that, I stumbled on a new lesson that the Millennial generation and Gen Z already know, which is that a picture and a caption is all we need. Now, I just need to learn…