C-5A Air Force Cargo plane landing at Hancock Field
/ Craig McDowell
SYRACUSE -- You may have noticed a giant C-5A Air Force Cargo plane landing at Hancock Field this morning. The aircraft is delivering equipment and people to Central New York needed for a big emergency preparedness drill this weekend.
Some 400 National Guard troops and 100 civilian first responders will gather at the state preparedness training center in Oriskany the next few days. They will be rehearsing a disaster scenario that will test local first responders and the military's team that serves as a backup for those civilians in handling multiple disasters. The National Guard members from across the state are trained in extricating victims from a building destroyed by chemical, biological, high explosive or radiological weapons.
In the scenario being tested this weekend, an explosion at a building will be simulated, along with an accident involving a tractor trailer and a train carrying chemical tank cars. The exercise will also test the 174th Fighter Wing's capabilities as the organization and facility serving as a staging ground for military units responding to an emergency in our area.
The National Guard emergency response forces exercise three times a year with civilian first responders in different parts of the state. The last exercise was held in the Hudson Valley area.
