Nuclear incident drills to start Monday across Montana

Malmstrom Staff Sgt. Isaiah Miller operates a lift in the missile tube of a static intercontinental ballistic missile used for maintenance training at Malmstrom Air Force Base in 2010.Great Falls Tribune – by Jenn Rowell

If a nuclear incident happened in Montana, key officials don’t want to be meeting each other for the first time.

Military personnel at Malmstrom Air Force Base have regular exercises to test their response procedures and make sure everyone knows what to do and when.

But starting Monday, their training will go to a higher level.  

A national exercise, known as NUWAIX 2013, which is executed by U.S. Northern Command and sponsored by the Defense Threat Reduction Agency, will bring about 1,000 people to Montana throughout the exercise. The exercise isn’t expected to disrupt the community, but locals may notice additional vehicle traffic in and out of the base, increased helicopter activity and some personnel in hazmat suits or “tent cities” at some of the exercise sites. The majority of the exercise will be contained at Malmstrom and Fort Harrison in Helena.

Personnel from a variety of local and federal agencies, primarily the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Department of Energy, Homeland Security and Federal Emergency Management Agency Region VIII, will augment Malmstrom and other Air Force participants.

The exercise will be scenario based, and participants will respond to a nuclear incident, which could be a DOE shipment in the state, an attack on a nuclear missile site, hostile action on base or the missile field or a range of scenarios.

“If that day were to happen, we want to kind of go on autopilot,” Col. Rob Stanley, 341st missile wing commander at Malmstrom, said.

The idea is to exercise procedures but also to build relationships among the key players so they aren’t meeting for the first time during an actual emergency, especially one involving nuclear weapons.

Federal, state and local agencies have emergency response plans, but anything involving a nuclear weapon initiates a higher response and having both military, government and civilian agencies understand the plan, lingo and how the others operate is critical.

“If it were to involve a nuke, we don’t have a lot of time,” Stanley said. “It helps prevent any delay in response actions.”

The last of these large scale exercises at Malmstrom was in 2004, and the last one on a nuclear base was held at Minot Air Force Base in North Dakota, Stanley said. Malmstrom personnel conducted an internal exercise about two weeks ago, he said.

Improved relationships with local and federal agencies has been a significant asset to emergency response planning, Stanley said. Information and resource sharing has become more standard in addition to better communication.

“The threat environment has changed over that time, we have to adjust,” he said.

Another big change in recent years is communication with the public, he said. A team from Global Strike Command in Louisiana will come to Montana to supplement Malmstrom public affairs so they can train on sharing information with the media and the public.

“Because if something happens, people need to know,” Stanley said.

About 1,000 people will come to Montana throughout the weeklong exercise. Many of them will be in Great Falls, but the exercise will be conducted at several states statewide.

That could result in about $140 per person per day, according to city data, meaning about $700,000 could be spent in Montana during the exercise.

Vince Kolar with Cascade County Disaster and Emergency Services said some local first responders will participate in the exercise.

“If the real thing happens, the locals are probably going to be the first ones on the scene. We’re usually pretty involved in local exercises,” Kolar said. “(The military) command structure is a little different than ours and once there’s a nuclear weapon involved, it’s a different show. It’s a little different situation for these responders than they’re used to.”

From the state level, the National Guard and state emergency responders will participate. Ed Tinsley, director of Montana DES, said in the three years he’s been on the job, there have been three presidential disasters declared in Montana.

“Our motto is that you don’t want to meet the person you’re going to be working with at the disaster. We know what to expect, how to talk their language, they know how to talk our language,” Tinsley, an Army veteran, said. “Nothing in the world like on the ground training.”

http://www.greatfallstribune.com/article/20130502/NEWS01/304300038/Nuclear-incident-drills-start-Monday-across-Montana?nclick_check=1

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16 thoughts on “Nuclear incident drills to start Monday across Montana

    1. That would be good if it was live for all to see. What I like is that these drills are not real, ya know, they are just play acting to condition them people involved. Yes, Ben would like to see their drills too.

  1. Yes, it seems a lot of drills have gone live in the last few years. That’s so the person involved in a false flag attack, who is caught, can just say “I’m part of the exercise.” It also creates a lot of confusion, “is this real world, or is this an exercise?” Gee, isn’t that what the pilots were asking on 9-11?

  2. And remember, it was reported a couple days ago on FTT that 559 pounds of explosives had been stolen in Montana. Sounds like enough to frame some right wing, fundamentalist, conservative, militia-type, patriots to me. Oh, and I forgot, Bible believing Christians, who are absolutely of the terrorist mindset. What a coincidence?? that after that theft is reported, now they are having nuclear drills-how could it be?? How conveeenient, as they say!

      1. Another little trip down memory lane-there was a missing nuke that didn’t show up at Barksdale, La. from Minot, ND a few years back. Is it just another one of those ‘conveeeeenient” coincidences that a team from Louisiana (Global Strike Command) will be in Montana to help with public relations?? As in, tell the public another BIG whopper when the sky lights up!

        1. Yep Paula, I think I remember hearing about that a few years ago too. Wasn`t there another one that turned up missing about the same time also as that one did?

          1. Hey Digger…most of them boys that flew,..or blew the whistle…showed up dead in just a few months time…..most all of’em

    1. Didn’t notice your comment before I did to connect the dots- see another false flag coming.

  3. MyFellow Americans:

    “Nuclear incident drills to start Monday across Montana”,….

    OH-Oooooo,……

    JD – US Marines – Time to get my Iodine tablets out…..

  4. Kiss and hug your families and make sure they know you love them.

    I call for a moratorum on any drils of any kind.

    Seems like whenever there is a drill we get attacked.

    I hope the demons behind this get what they deserve and may the meek inherit the earth.

  5. i’m tired of the government trying to proactively protect me. your job is to protect the constitution (AFTER it has been violated). go home. we’ll call you if we need you.

  6. As long as we tolerate USG employees to be members of secret societies these false flag crimes will continue to be perpetrated towards their goal of turning America into a totalitarian police state. Complaining that USG employees controlled by secret societies should stop committing treason must be a constant source of laughter for the Illuminati.

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