CONTACT: Lt. Col. Richard Goldenberg, 518-786-4581

FOR RELEASE: Friday, May 02, 2008

ON SITE: Staff Sgt. John D’Andrea (716) 481-1059. For access to the installation, please contact Lt. Col. Deanna Miller, Wing Executive Officer/Community Manager at (716) 236-3142.

WHO:

More than fifty engineer Soldiers from Company A, 27th Brigade Special Troops Battalion (BSTB) in Buffalo, deploy to New York City to train incident response alongside hundreds of emergency responders from the City of New York.

WHAT:

Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear and High Explosive incident response training prepares members of the New York National Guard for supporting civilian authorities with assessment, casualty extraction, decontamination and medical triage. The training exercise at the FDNY training academy site will include a realistic scenario with simulated casualties, debris, and the challenges of a response in an urban area. The exercise will provide the Western N.Y. engineers from the Army National Guard with casualty extraction training from urban and confined spaces as the Soldiers learn from the FDNY and EMS members and their expertise in the core competencies of search and rescue, structural evacuation and CBRNE/HAZMAT life safety and mass decontamination.

WHEN:

Friday, May 2, 2008. Media are invited to view the departure of the engineer Soldiers at 9:30 a.m. at the Air Reserve Station Lockport Road main gate to be escorted on base to meet the troops prior to their aircraft departure.

WHERE:

Niagara Falls Air Reserve Station, 2020 Lockport Rd, Niagara Falls, N.Y.

More than fifty New York Army National Guard Soldiers will mobilize and deploy on an Air National Guard C-5A Galaxy aircraft from Niagara Falls Air Reserve Station this Friday to participate in Operation Civil Support. The National Guard training exercise helps prepare the state’s military forces for Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear or High Explosive (CBRNE) incidents. The National Guard engineers will train alongside the City of New York Fire Department (FDNY) at the fire training academy on Randall’s Island to strengthen the coordination, liaison, techniques and procedures for employing the New York National Guard’s premiere CBRNE response elements to assist civil authorities. The New York National Guard currently maintains a full-time Civil Support Team (CST) whose 22 members are trained, certified and equipped to augment civil authorities to rapidly identify, assess and respond to homeland security Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD) or hazardous materials (HAZMAT) events. The team is further enhanced by a traditional National Guard CBRNE Enhanced Response Force Package (CERFP). Its 300 Soldiers, Airmen and N.Y. Guard volunteers, including the Western N.Y. search and extraction team engineers, mobilize and deploy to provide emergency responders with additional CBRNE casualty extraction, decontamination and triage for the evacuation and initial treatment assessment of victims of a chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear, high explosive or other hazardous materials incident. The N.Y. National Guard regularly trains these elements to support civil authorities and elements of the CST routinely perform homeland security missions in support of law enforcement officials throughout New York City during key events. The Fire Department of New York City (FDNY) has the responsibility for protecting the citizens and property of New York City's five boroughs from fires and fire hazards, providing emergency medical services, technical rescue as well as providing first response to biological, chemical and radioactive hazards. The FDNY is the largest municipal fire department in the world with approximately 11,400 uniformed officers and firefighters. The Air National Guard’s 105th Airlift Wing from Newburgh, N.Y. provides the C-5A Galaxy aircraft for the deployment mission. The Niagara Falls Air Reserve Station is home to the New York Air National Guard’s 107th Airlift Wing, currently undergoing transformation to an airlift wing. The use of the facility and personnel from the 107th Airlift Wing strengthens the capabilities of New York State’s Military Forces to respond to contingencies or homeland security needs anywhere in the state. For access to the installation at 9:30 a.m., please contact Lt. Col. Deanna Miller, Wing Executive Officer/Community Manager at (716) 236-3142. Media members interested in covering the deployment for the training exercise should contact Lt. Col. Deanna Miller with the New York Air National Guard’s 107th Airlift Wing no later than 5 p.m. on Thursday, May 1 to arrange access to the secure facility. Media should be prepared to show photo identification for access to the military installation.