Troops from The Texas State Guard (State Defense Force) 3rd Battalion, 6th Brigade recently held a disaster exercise during their February Drill. The exercise simulated a severe weather event and tested the units reaction when called up. The unit was evaluated on how quickly and efficiently they were able to setup a shelter for evacuees, as well as setting up a Point Of Distribution (POD) system.
The POD mission is an important mission assigned to State Defense Forces by The National Guard. This mission requires State Defense Force troops setup distribution points throughout the state to facilitate the delivery of food, water and other key resources to citizens. The POD Mission proved extremely useful during the early months of The Covid-19 Pandemic when supermarkets were unable to keep up with food & water demand.
Here is an article covering the event:
Texas State Guard conducts disaster simulation trainings in Waco
Nearly 40 service members practiced sheltering and point of distribution missions at the Crestview Community Center
WACO, Texas (KWTX) – The Texas State Guard conducted simulated disaster response trainings in Waco this weekend to prepare for future emergency weather events and hurricane season.
“We constantly train on this mission, just to be ready,” Daniel McCarroll, the Battalion Commander of the 3rd Battalion 6th Brigade of the Texas State Guard, told KWTX. “Whether it’s a hurricane or winter weather. Especially going into hurricane, it’s real world that we could be performing this mission in numerous locations, so it’s important for us to get out there and meet our local emergency manager practitioners, get some faces with names, have us actually execute the mission.”
The training started with a classroom session in the morning, where the nearly 40 service members in attendance went over the basics of how the two missions they were practicing for, sheltering and points of distribution (PODs), should be performed.
The rest of the day consisted of putting those classroom skills into action.
Indoors, soldiers simulated setting up cots in the gymnasium of the Crestview Community Center, which is a designated shelter building in Waco.
They also practiced responding to a medical emergency in the gymnasium, running through what vital signs to take, when to call 9-1-1, and even had an EMS team come in to keep the simulation as realistic as possible.
Soldiers then ran through a POD mission outside, which involved guiding cars to a water and food distribution point.
In ten seconds or less, they practiced filling the cars with canned water and other emergency necessities.
The Commanding General of the Texas State Guard was also on site to inspect the readiness of the soldiers in being prepared.
“The men and women that come here, it’s just a reminder, they don’t get paid, they buy their own uniforms,” McCarroll said.
“They’re Texans serving Texans. They do it out of the goodness of their hearts because they wanna serve their state.”
On Sunday, the soldiers will get together to review how Saturday’s training went to ensure they’re ready should disaster strike.
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Source: KWTX Channel 10
