EDWARDS AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. -- The Desert Wind 07-6, Operation Shakers exercise was conducted here on May 16, which simulated a major earthquake at Edwards.

Desert Wind is an annual exercise organized by the Air Force Flight Test Center Inspector General Readiness office to provide response training for base personnel in case an earthquake occurs.

"The purpose of the exercise is to prepare the base to handle a major earthquake and inform individuals of where their rally points are," said Pierre Poudevigne, senior exercise planner for the IG. "We ensure they know their accountability procedures and facility managers know where valves are located for the gas, water, and electricity."

Because we live in a high threat area for earthquakes, the base was tasked with multiple scenarios involving simulated building damage and casualties that units had to work through, Mr. Poudevigne said.

"We use these scenarios to see if base organizations are equipped to deal with them and are working with their counterparts outside of the base," he said. "We tie all this in and are done through a table top exercises that we give to the battle staff at the installation command center."

The exercise simulated a major earthquake and two aftershocks, Mr. Poudevigne said.

"The initial earthquake focused on the school, which simulated approximately 18 kids trapped inside with various injuries," he said. "Emergency services then responded to the school. Next, we had an aftershock, which involved the control tower, Club Muroc, the Child Development Center and several aircraft hangars. Emergency services would then prioritize their resources for saving lives and dealing with hazardous materials."

The exercise also simulated the collapse of building 2600, which is a major communications location, Mr. Poudevigne said.

"We wanted to see how people would operate with only land mobile radios and runners," he said. "This part of the exercise meant that Unit Control Centers, Command and Control Centers, the Emergency Operations Center and the Installation Command Center were all without telephones, cell phones and computer networks. We then wanted to evaluate how long it would take to restore service. We also wanted to see what kind of contacts they would use to bring up these services and what resources would be used on base to tap into for service."

All of the individual units were evaluated, said Maj. Stephen Harvey, IG chief of readiness.

"During the exercise, the Emergency Evaluation Team members from each unit can go check with their specific facility managers," Major Harvey said. "They can ensure that these individuals know down to the specific building, how to shut down power, gas and water. They also must know how to assess the building for damage to ensure that it is safe to enter after the earthquake. They do an external review of the building and then go inside to look for damage. "

The EET members describe a picture of the scenario for the players, because there is no real damage to assess, he said.

"When the fire department responds, the fire department EET is there to paint a picture of the damage so the fire department can determine how much shoring and bracing material is needed to support the building structure," Major Harvey said. "In some cases they must also manufacture bracing for specific exercise injects."

This exercise is conducted once a year, Major Harvey said. The next major exercise for Edwards will be the Operational Readiness Exercise from June 18 to 22.

"When we do the ORE, we expect that to be the test," Major Harvey said. "We aren't training in those scenarios. The earthquake exercises are a little bit different, because we are doing training so participants can learn where their evacuations points are, and facility managers know their buildings. It is a chance to re-emphasize these procedures for individual people that work on Edwards. Emergency services are the ones actually being evaluated for their responses." 

Mr. Poudevigne said this earthquake exercise was one of the best ones he has seen here. 

"I actually saw a lot of people out there," he said. "I was very encouraged when I looked out and saw the number of participants. They got to their rally points, got accountability, and as soon as they were cleared, they went back in. It went very well."