Training for the real thing

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. Brian Ferguson
  • 3rd Wing Public Affairs
ELMENDORF AIR FORCE BASE, Alaska --  Recently the Department of Defense, Department of Justice, Department of Homeland Security and the state of Alaska came together to participate in the Arctic Fencing Inter-Agency Arrow 2010 field training exercise.

The goal of the exercise was to test the interagency response between the Departments of Defense, Justice and Homeland Security to an attempted aircraft hijacking.

"Multi-agency training opportunities such as this allow the participants to share best practices, develop professional relationships and fine tune coordinated responses prior to an actual threat to aviation," said Cameron Porter, assistant federal security director of law enforcement for Alaska, Federal Air Marshal Service.

A KC-135 Stratotanker from the 190th Air Refueling Squadron, Kansas Air National Guard, simulated a Boeing 747 scheduled from Anchorage to Tokyo. The exercise commenced with two hijackers attempting to gain control of the aircraft.

Participating in the exercise were the DoD services, Kansas and Alaska Air National Guard, Canadian military, FBI, Federal Air Marshal Service and the Alaska State Troopers.

A federal air marshal team engaged the threat and took action to secure the aircraft while Air Force F-22 Raptors were scrambled to direct and escort the aircraft to the nearest airport. Once on the ground in Anchorage, the FBI and Alaska State Trooper Joint SWAT team made entry into the aircraft and worked with the federal air marshal team to secure it.

This exercise offered the Federal Air Marshal Service a rare opportunity to validate its tactical doctrine onboard an aircraft in flight.

"When federal air marshals board an aircraft they have only the resources they bring with them," said Mr. Porter. "These resources must be sufficient to resolve any situation that may occur in flight."

For the Air Force, it was an opportunity to get interagency experience during a live fly exercise.

"We practice this routinely," said Canadian Forces Col. Todd Balfe, deputy commander of the Alaska NORAD Region. "However, we don't always get to practice with our interagency partners. I think it's very important for all of use to understand each other and how we operate and communicate information. We need to be able to operate seamlessly with each other."

The North American Aerospace Defense Command is a bi-national U.S. and Canadian organization charged with the missions of aerospace warning and aerospace control for North America to include the monitoring of manmade objects in space, and the detection, validation and warning of attack against North America whether by aircraft, missiles or space vehicles.

Each service will use the information gathered from this exercise to enhance their ability to protect the traveling public aboard aircraft worldwide.

"The practices and lessons learned here can also be use in other locations," said Colonel Balfe. "We hope to continue these types of exercises in the future."

The Federal Air Marshal Service said it was very pleased with the marshals' ability to stabilize the situation and communicate with the pilot, ground support, and the joint FBI/AST SWAT team to secure the aircraft once on the ground.

"Interagency training exercises, like this one, are invaluable when preparing our personnel to deal with the unthinkable," said Annmarie Lontz, special agent in charge, Seattle FAMS Field Office. "The experiences shared during this exercise will be a tremendous benefit for all involved and ultimately the flying public."