By Army Sgt. Brad Mincey 108th Public Affairs Detachment
It seems like a disaster here, but fortunately, it isn't real.
More than 400 South Carolina Army National Guard soldiers are participating in the U.S. Northern Command-hosted Guardian Response exercise here through April 30. They're joined by over a thousand other soldiers from the National Guard and reserves, supporting civil authorities for the training. Guardian Response is conducted in conjunction with the U.S. Army North-sponsored Vibrant Response exercise.
Exercise participants react and respond to a variety of scenarios in a mock nuclear event, where terrorists detonated a 20-kiloton dirty bomb in a generic U.S. city.
Working Together
Army Maj. Gen. Michael Stone, Task Force 46 commander and a Michigan National Guard member, held a mock press conference April 10 to kick off the exercise. “Task Force 46 serves as the command and control of the Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear Element Bravo, coordinating efforts in case of a catastrophic event in the United States,” Stone said. “Most of the members of Task Force are citizen-soldiers, ready to help their neighbors recover and get back to a sense of normalcy as soon as possible.”
Task Force 46 consists of Element Alpha (Army Reserve troops) and Element Bravo (National Guard forces) from eight states across the U.S. Assets include…
