Members of the Naval Hospital Yokosuka Emergency Response Team examine a mock casualty during a Camp Zama exercise Wednesday that had emergency personnel responding to a simulated explosion and chemical weapons attack in a housing area on base. (Bryce S. Dubee / Stars and Stripes)
CAMP ZAMA, Japan — A grisly scene awaited Camp Zama first responders Wednesday morning when they encountered bloody casualties scattered in front of a tower housing unit, but the victims were role-players in a planned exercise.
The training scenario indicated a disgruntled soldier drove a van filled with explosives into the building.
But what was waiting inside was scarier.
Wednesday’s chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear and explosive training unfolded with emergency personnel discovering that after the attacker had set off the bomb, he went inside the building to release deadly hydrogen cyanide gas.
Lt. Col. John Riley, the CBRNE division chief for U.S. Army Pacific based out of Fort Shafter, Hawaii, said each Army installation conducts an annual exercise involving response to a weapon of mass destruction.
This year’s U.S. Army Garrison-Japan exercise involved about 50 people including military police, firefighters, Criminal Investigation Command soldiers, and emergency medical services responders, base officials said.
A Navy explosive ordinance disposal team and a Naval Hospital Yokosuka emergency response team also participated.
While most of the exercise ran smoothly, it wouldn’t be training unless some mistakes were made, officials said.
A miscommunication about the containment of the toxic gas led to medics rushing into aid the victims before the area was fully decontaminated, becoming victims themselves, Riley explained.
Along with meeting the annual training requirement, the exercise gave the base a chance to show its capabilities to local Japanese officials, said Edward Roper, a spokesman for U.S. Army Garrison Japan.
More than 30 local government, police and hospital officials observed the exercise, he said.
"Our goal is for the host nation to eventually participate in the exercise," he said.
Members of the Naval Hospital Yokosuka Emergency Response Team examine a mock casualty during a Camp Zama exercise Wednesday that had emergency personnel responding to a simulated explosion and chemical weapons attack in a housing area on base. (Bryce S. Dubee / Stars and Stripes)
A member of Camp Zama's fire department leads a medic to safety Wednesday, after the role-playing soldier was supposedly contaminated during a chemical attack. (Bryce S. Dubee / Stars and Stripes)
Maj. David Hernandez, of Medical Department Activities Japan, talks to Desean Root, 12, during the Camp Zama exercise. (Bryce S. Dubee / Stars and Stripes)
Camp Zama firefighters spray water on a van used to deliver a mock explosive. (Bryce S. Dubee / Stars and Stripes)
A Camp Zama firefighter examines a mock casualty during the exercise. (Bryce S. Dubee / Stars and Stripes)
