CONTACT: Eric Durr, 518-786-4581 (Cell) 518-429-5186

FOR RELEASE: Saturday, Nov 05, 2011

ON SITE: Eric Durr, 518-786-4581 (Cell) 518-429-5186

KINGSTON, NY (10/31/2011)(readMedia)-- More than 400 New York Army and Air National Guardsmen and women will take part in an emergency response exercise with local first responders here on Saturday, Nov. 5. The exercise, which calls for the local emergency agencies and the Guard to respond to a terrorist attack with a "dirty bomb"- an explosive which sprays radioactive material-will take place at the site of the former Kings Inn. The New York Army National Guard’s 204th Engineer Battalion conducted demolition work on the old motel to prepare the site for this exercise. The exercise will allow the New York National Guard to train teams that are specially designed to detect the use of chemical, radiological and biological weapons, and then to rescue victims of these weapons, decontaminate them, and provide medical triage. It also allows civilian first responders and Guard emergency responders to work together so they better understand each other’s skills and capabilities. The exercise also allows the National Guard to test the logistics and command and control functions involved with deploying Guard Soldiers and Airmen to emergency sites. The New York National Guard conducts at least two of these exercises annually across the state. "This exercise enables our Soldiers and Airmen to practice these vital skills, while improving our ability to work with local police and fire departments and local officials," said Major General Patrick Murphy, the Adjutant General of New York. "I am very pleased that this exercise will take place in Ulster County because the training value of an event of this magnitude is truly amazing and it is a great way to refine the tremendous level of skill demonstrated by our first responders on a day-to-day basis," said Ulster County Executive Mike Hein. "Additionally, it is a great opportunity for many of Ulster County’s first responders to work together, collaboratively with New York National Guard personnel." "The City of Kingston appreciates this unique opportunity for our City Fire and Police personnel to interact with the New York National Guard on the streets of our City. This training prepares all of our first responders for events that we pray never happen but events that we must prepare for, " said Kingston Mayor James Scottile. Local agencies taking part include the Ulster County Executive’s Office, Ulster County Sheriff’s Department, the Ulster County Office of Emergency Management and Communication, the Ulster County Health Department, the Kingston Fire Department, the Kingston Police Department, Mobile Life, the New York State Police and the New York City Department of Environmental Protection. An estimated 250 local first responders will participate in addition to 100 civilian personnel. The exercise is due to start around 8 a.m. on Saturday morning and should be complete by 3 p.m. During the exercise there will be increased traffic from military and civilian emergency vehicles around the Kings Inns location on Broadway. Soldiers and Airmen participating in the exercise will be moving to the Kingston Armory on Kiersted Avenue on Friday, Nov. 4. Units will be traveling from Brooklyn and other parts of the state to participate. The National Guard forces being exercised are the 24th Civil Support Team, based at Fort Hamilton, Brooklyn and the New York National Guard CERFP, which stands for CBRN (Chemical, Biological, Radiological, and Nuclear) Enhanced Response Force Package. The 24th Civil Support Team is a full-time force of 22 National Guard Soldiers and Airmen who are specially trained to detect the presence of hazardous materials or biological, radiological, chemical, or nuclear weapons. The 24th is one of two CSTs in the New York National Guard and is focused on responses in the New York City area. The 2nd CST is based at Stratton Air Guard Base in Scotia. The CERFP is a team of 350 New York Army and Air Guard men and women, along with members of the New York Guard, the state’s volunteer defense force. CERFP members come from different units which train regularly in their domestic emergency tasks. The CERFP is designed to relieve civilian first responders and sustain emergency rescue operations after an attack. The command and control element of the CERFP is provided by the Kingston-based 104th Military Police Battalion. The extraction team is provided by the 1156th Engineer Company which is also based in Kingston. The decontamination team comes from members of the 222nd Chemical Company, a Brooklyn-based unit, along with members of the New York Guard’s 88th Brigade. The medical treatment team is made up of Air National Guard members from the medical squadrons of New York’s five air wings.