NASJRB to Punctuate 9/11 Ceremony with Disaster Drill

Fort Worth's Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base will mark the 10th anniversary of Sept. 11 with a memorial ceremony and disaster exercise.

The ceremony takes place Sunday morning at 7:30 a.m., with the disaster exercise, complete with explosions and low-flying helicopters, to take place mid-morning Saturday and Sunday, Sept. 10 and 11.

Officials at the base said the training exercise is designed to solidify a joint response to a major medical emergency involving mass casualties.

Six hundred participants, including reservists, will take part in the disaster exercise including multiple resources from the NASJRB, the Texas Civil Air Patrol, Tarrant County Health Department and the fire departments from Lockheed-Martin, Aledo and Fort Worth.

The exercise will be held at the old assets storage facility in White Settlement, not at NASJRB. Those living near the facility need to be aware that explosions and low-flying aircraft will be part of the exercise, but that they shouldn't be too obtrusive.

Lt. Col. David Kurle said Thursday that the explosions aren't large ones and are more comparable to fireworks that will be used to signal the beginning of the exercise.

Officials at the base said in a news release Wednesday that "Military medical units will also train in land navigation, downed aircraft location and search and identification of patients, as well as patient extraction from challenging terrain. The weekend-long exercise will consist of first-responder actions, movement of injured and treatment at a Medical Treatment Facility. Participants will also practice the loading, transport and unloading of casualties on helicopters."