Approximately 600 Maryland National Guard soldiers,

Approximately 600 Maryland National Guard soldiers, along with 200 Ocean City Police Department officers, firefighters, Emergency Medical Technicians, and civilian role players participated in a Domestic Response Exercise on Saturday, November 3 in Ocean City, Md.
The exercise included dynamic, high intensity and realistic training to help prepare soldiers for complex domestic situations. The interagency coordination also helped to build partnership capacity with local, State, and Federal agencies in accordance with the National Response Framework.
“These types of exercises are important to us because it gives us an opportunity to work with our civilian counterparts,” said Brig. Gen. Janeen Birckhead, Commander of the Maryland National Guard.
Soldiers participated in various scenarios including active shooter, civil disturbance, decontamination of radiological explosion and medical evacuation.
Elements of the Joint Task Force – Maryland were also deployed to support the Emergency Response and Defense Support of Civil Authorities operations to practice interagency coordination.
“In the future, we’ll be able to work better together in a more cohesive manner because of this exercise,” said Birckhead.
(Photo by Staff Sgt. Nancy Spicer, 29th Mobile Public Affairs Detachment.)