Alaskan Command hosts Arctic Resolve 2022

JOINT BASE ELMENDORF-RICHARDSON, Alaska – Alaskan Command invited federal and state emergency response partners to participate in exercise Arctic Resolve 2022 at the combined headquarters of Alaska North American Aerospace Defense Command Region, Alaskan Command, and 11th Air Force, Aug. 26.

The ALCOM-hosted, interagency exercise aimed to create a shared understanding of each organization’s roles and responsibilities through all stages of disaster response and defense support of civil authorities.

“Over the last several months, Alaskan Command collaborated with federal, state, and local emergency response partners to create a realistic training scenario,” said U.S. Army Col. Jacob Peterson, ANR and ALCOM chief of staff. “This was an invaluable experience to establish best practices and help everyone involved understand how we can work together if our command is called upon to assist in a real-world natural disaster or with emergency response. While we hope that day never comes, and recognize the ability of the state to expertly respond, it is part of the Alaskan Command mission to be ready if and when needed.”

The first of the three-day exercise consisted of a series of academic briefings pertaining to the nature of seismic activity, natural disaster emergency preparation, and the Alaska Department of Homeland Security and Emergency Management’s role in disaster response.

The Alaska DHS&EM provided exercise attendees the opportunity to experience Alaska’s Earthquake Simulator, a mechanized environment that allows individuals to safely experience a simulated 8.0-magnitude earthquake.

Jeremy Zidek, the Alaska DHS&EM public information officer, said many individuals come to Alaska from places that don’t experience earthquakes often, and it is critical that they are trained on one of the biggest risks of the state.

“We brought out the earthquake simulator to educate people about the risks and hazards we face in Alaska,” said Zidek. “We have more earthquakes than the rest of the United States combined and we’ve had the second largest earthquake ever recorded. This is certainly earthquake country, so people really need to know what to do.”

Day two of the exercise shifted toward an interagency tabletop exercise where key personnel from ALCOM staff and emergency response partners walked through a simulated joint response to natural disaster scenarios.

Organizations such as the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the Federal Emergency Management Agency Region 10, the DHS&EM, and the U.S. Coast Guard, discussed protocol for their respective operations.

“This exercise provided a shared understanding of our partners’ capabilities and actions in response to a crisis, and it informed our staff how we could best support their efforts if called upon,” said U.S. Army Maj. Christopher Behm, chief of Joint Training and Readiness Division for ALCOM and Arctic Resolve 2022 exercise planner.

Maintaining that relationship is a necessity as ALCOM is responsible for conducting DSCA activities within the joint operations area. The sheer size of the Arctic region and the distance between first responders and areas outside of the southern region of Alaska pose significant challenges, making synergy between emergency response partners essential.

During the final day of the exercise, ALCOM staff met emergency response partners at the National Tsunami Warning Center in Palmer to study how seismic activity in the region is monitored and responded to not only in Alaska, but across Canada and the continental United States.

The exercise will continue over the following week with additional exercise scenarios and further collaboration between ALCOM and interagency partners.