Special Operations.Com

JOINT RELEASE

Marine Corps Base, PSC Box 20004, Camp Lejeune, N.C. 28542-0004

Media Section: Capt. Farnum, 1st Lt. Chapin or 2nd Lt. James

Phone: (910) 451-5655

Fax: (910) 451-3415

June 24, 1998

Marine Corps' CBIRF to Conduct Exercise Southern Response at UNCW's Trask Coliseum

The Marine Corps, Chemical Biological Incident Response Force (CBIRF), from Camp Lejeune, North Carolina will be conducting Exercise Southern Response at Trask Coliseum on the Campus of The University of North Carolina At Wilmington (UNCW). This exercise will be a response to a weapon of mass destruction on campus with 115 role players acting as exposed victims.

The purpose of the exercise is to enhance the participantís capability to respond to an incident involving a weapon of mass destruction.

Approximately 280 Marines and sailors will be participating in the exercise along with the U.S. Public Health Service, Wilmington Fire Department, UNCW University Police and UNCW staff. There will also be about 115 high school students who are participating in UNCWís Summer Ventures Program acting as role players during the exercise.

There will be an operational rehearsal Monday, June 29, 1998 in preparation for the full exercise, which will take place Tuesday, June 30, 1998.

On June 29, beginning at 7 p.m. through completion, CBIRF will rehearse the conduct of consequence management operations during the release of a chemical agent. The total force will be employed and will go through the operational steps of extracting115 casualties from the UNCWís Trask Coliseum. There will be no role players taking part in the rehearsal.

The full exercise will take place June 30, also beginning at 7 p.m. and running through completion. This exercise will conduct consequence management operations with the assistance of the U.S. Public Health Service, Wilmington Fire Department and UNCW University Police and staff. The exercise on the 30th will include the 115 high school students acting as casualties of chemical agent.

The media will be allowed to closely cover the rehearsal exercise on the 29th; however, the full training exercise on the 30th will be conducted as if this were a real chemical attack. A press information center will be established on campus and media will be provided information by the staff operating the information center as it becomes available.

Thanks to the cooperation of the city of Wilmington and UNCW, CBIRF will have the opportunity to enhance overall operational readiness in response to real world chemical and biological threats.

Media interested in covering the exercise should contact Mimi Cunningham, assistant vice chancellor of university relations for UNCW at (910) 962-3171 or Lt. Rob James, media officer at Camp Lejeuneís Public Affairs Office.