Synchronized success   Emergency responders work together in realistic hostage situation                              Ashley Henry Public Affairs Intern

At approximately 9:30 a.m., July 9, an officer, who was responding to a 911 call of loud music coming from a residence on Baston Court, was assaulted and taken hostage.  The call and the events that followed were all part of a large-scale Directorate of Emergency Services joint-training exercise. The training, the first of its kind on Fort Jackson, involved law enforcement, the Criminal Investigation Division, the Special Reaction Team and the Fort Jackson Fire Department. After the initial call was placed and an officer was taken hostage, a command post was set up on the scene and CID was called to conduct hostage negotiations.  Law enforcement officials surrounded the quarters and reacted when one of the suspects tried to escape out the back door; SRT entered the house to apprehend the other suspect; and the fire department responded after a fire broke out in the quarters. “We have always talked about doing a massive training,” said Sgt. 1st Class Steven Dulak, provost sergeant. “When we had these quarters come up, we thought it was a great opportunity to throw a scenario in there that we had never done before and test how we would interact with all the different departments.” The quarters that were used are scheduled to be demolished during phase one of the housing renovations, allowing participants in the training to treat the situation as if it were actually happening.  Sgt. Roy Phoenix, SRT team leader, said the training was “very beneficial because we were able to break down doors, throw flash bangs and really do everything we would do in a real life scenario.” Scott Dollman, assistant fire chief, said the main reason this training was able to happen was because of the help they received from Ann Padgett, housing chief, and the housing department for making the quarters available.  During the coordination of the training only the key leaders from each of the agencies knew what the actual scenario was and what the responding officials would encounter. “Everyone equally benefitted from this training,” Dulak said. “No one really knew what to expect; everybody had an expectation that they were going to be utilized, they just didn’t know how.” The uncertainty of the events helped to make the scenario as realistic as possible. Staff Sgt. Benjamin Hardy, SRT noncommissioned officer in charge, said it was very realistic and a good opportunity to show how all the agencies work together in case something like this does happen in the future. Each agency set objectives during the planning stages of the exercise that included testing the duress button on officers’ radios and communication between agencies. Because this was the first time all the agencies have worked together in this type of training, leaders were unsure how the exercise would play out. “We hit all of our objectives, and as a team it hit the whole DES objective of bringing every component together. It went better than I thought it would,” Dollman said. “Overall, they handled the situation –– the hostage was taken out of the building, the subjects were arrested and no one got hurt.” As a result of this joint training exercise, Emergency Services Director Lt. Col. Ronald Taylor said that the DES will continue monthly joint exercises to better prepare for similar situations as well as natural disasters. Leaders said they agree this training went well, and the experience will only enhance their abilities to provide services to the Fort Jackson community.