JOINT BASE ELMENDORF-RICHARDSON, Alaska — The Alaska National Guard will host a guided discussion wargame, “Arctic Stardust 2018,” with military and civilian senior leaders at the National Guard armory here Feb. 6.

Maj. Gen. Laurie Hummel, adjutant general of the Alaska National Guard and commissioner for the Alaska Department of Military and Veterans Affairs, will be joined by more than 15 senior leaders to strategically assess established planning, preparation and procedures for a specific disaster scenario in Alaska.

The scenario is a catastrophic incident that would require Alaska’s 103rd Civil Support Team, a National Guard unit that responds to threats of a chemical, biological, radiological, or nuclear nature.

In addition to the National Guard, numerous state and federal agencies have responsibilities under their authority which require response during and after emergencies. The organizations collaborate to participate together in training—such as field exercises, capability exercises and tabletop exercises—to ensure they are fully prepared to respond to emergencies effectively.

Wargaming gives senior leaders an opportunity to preview an exercise scenario together, identifying objectives, players, simulations, and procedures in order to analyze, validate and refine established processes.

Alaska is the first state to develop and execute a local-level wargame with other agencies to specifically identify a perceived capability gap in emergency response.

Senior leaders participating in the activity are from Alaskan Command, U.S. Army Alaska, U.S. Coast Guard, U.S. Department of Energy, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, commissioners and staff from Alaska’s Department of Health and Social Services and Department of Environmental Conservation, and DMVA’s Air Guard, Army Guard and Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Management.

More than 250 National Guard members from Alaska, Colorado, Connecticut, Utah, and Washington will participate in a field training exercise in Valdez Feb. 22-24, which will play out the Arctic Stardust CBRN response scenario.

The Valdez event is one of six field exercises that are part of Exercise Arctic Eagle 2018, scheduled for Feb. 20 to March 8 throughout the state.[xyz-ihs snippet=”Adsense-responsive”]

  Alaska, arctic stardust 2018, biological, chemical, discussion, hummel, national guard, nuclear, radiological, valdez, wargames