Operation Red Dragon (civil defense exercise)

For the Belgian-American operation in the Congo, Dragon Rouge, see Congo Crisis.
Sgt. Maj. Thomas DiNatale, Training / Operations sergeant major for the U.S. Army Reserve Command Homeland Defense, gives feedback during a Red Dragon training scenario, August 2006. (Photo by Rob Schuette)

Operation Red Dragon is a recurring civil defense readiness exercise conducted in Fort McCoy, Wisconsin held during the summer, training Army Reserve, National Guard units, and civilian agencies, such as fire departments, police stations, hospitals, and non-governmental organizations (ie American Red Cross) to improve the Defense Support of Civil Authorities capabilities for large-scale chemical defense missions.

History

As a result of the 1995 sarin gas attack on a Tokyo subway and the growing concern about a terrorist chemical attack, the U.S. Congress passed laws to implement a program to train civilian agencies on responding to incidents involving Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD).[1] In response, the U.S. Army Reserve Command's Homeland Defense Office, then under the direction of LTC Jon M. Byrom, US Army Reserve developed an annual exercise to integrate collective training with specialized HAZMAT protection and decontamination equipment for Army Reserve units with this homeland defense mission. This annual exercise began in 2004 when the 472d Chemical Battalion, under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Scott S. Haraburda, was selected to provide operational command and control over nearly 400 Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear and high- yield Explosives (CBRNE) defense soldiers.[2] The following year, the exercise doubled in size to 800. In 2006, the 464th Chemical Brigade commanded this exercise, again under newly promoted Colonel Haraburda as the brigade commander, commanding over 1,100 chemical, military police, and medical soldiers, laying the groundwork for future training efforts with non-military organizations as part of the Defense Support of Civil Authorities for large-scale chemical defense missions. This exercise eventually grew to over 3,000 soldiers with ten civilian hospitals in 2009 and to include foreign contributions with Canadian soldiers in 2014.[3][4][5][6][7][8]

References

  1. ↑ Haraburda, Scott S. (2007). "U.S. Army Reserve Support for Domestic Response to a Chemical Incident" (PDF). Army Chemical Review: 46–50. Retrieved 23 June 2015. Colonel Haraburda is a USAR officer and the Commander of the 464th Chemical Brigade. He previously commanded the 472d Chemical Battalion and participated in the first Red Dragon exercise.
  2. ↑ Schuette, Rob (8 September 2006). "Red Dragon tests disaster response". Triad. Fort McCoy, WI. Retrieved 26 July 2015. Red Dragon began as a small exercise at Fort McCoy in 2004 with 400 Soldiers, who were mostly with chemical organizations ... The exercise grew to 800 Soldiers last year helping to respond to a chemical incident scenario that occurred on the installation. About 1,100 Soldiers from medical, military police, chaplain, and chemical units were included in the exercise this year.
  3. ↑ Vail, Michael S. (2009). "Exercise Red Dragon 2009 and the CCMRF" (PDF). Army Chemical Review: 42–43. Retrieved 23 June 2015. About 3,000 Soldiers are expected to participate in Red Dragon 2009 at Fort McCoy, Wisconsin, 13–27 June. ... This year’s exercise will involve interactions with first responders, including ten civilian hospitals, from four metropolitan areas in Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Madison, Lacrosse, and Fort McCoy.
  4. ↑ Hoffart, Matthew (2014). "Exercise Red Dragon 2014". Lord Strathcona's Horse (Royal Canadians). The purpose of this visit for the Canadian contingent was to bring back new ideas and help reinvigorate Canadian CBRN doctrine for the 21st century.
  5. ↑ Baba, Andrew (20 August 2014). "Red Dragon exercise – CBRN training involving Canadian and U.S. Army personnel coming to a close". Ottawa Citizen. Ottawa, Ontario. Retrieved 26 July 2015.
  6. ↑ Schuette, Rob (April 8, 2005). "Red Dragon Support Cell prepares for exercise at Fort McCoy". Triad Online. Retrieved 17 May 2010.
  7. ↑ Castro, Samuel (June 17, 2009). "Operation Red Dragon - Homeland Defense Training Exercise". Sheboygan Press. Retrieved 17 May 2010.
  8. ↑ ""Operation Red Dragon" Disaster Drills Today". 620WTMJ. Retrieved 3 February 2014.
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