Joint training allows CE, Bio to develop better emergency response Published Nov. 26, 2008 By Corey Dahl 21st Space Wing Public Affairs PETERSON AIR FORCE BASE, Colo. -- When members of the 21st Civil Engineer Squadron's Emergency Management Flight and the 21st Medical Group's Bioenvironmental Flight suit up and respond to a disaster, you can't tell them apart - and that's a good thing. The two groups have been training together at least once a month to improve their joint response skills in case of a chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear or explosive incident. Combining their equipment, manning and skills, the groups have been developing routines and procedures they can follow to increase efficiency while out in the field. "We're finding that we really have a lot in common as far as what we do and how we do it," said Master Sgt. Terrence Callaghan from the Bioenvironmental team. "This training is just about learning how to do those things together." Emergency Management and Bioenvironmental typically play similar detection and identification roles when responding to an incident. The difference: Emergency Management uses the information to define the hazard and determine its operational impact; Bioenvironmental looks at the info to determine potential health risks and how to control them. Working together, the two teams can combine resources and share equipment to obtain their data. After responding to a mock chemical incident as part of a Nov. 14 joint training session, Senior Airman Bart Dietrick, a 21st Medical Group bioenvironmental technician, and Tech. Sgt. Michael Henderlong, non-commissioned officer in charge of readiness and emergency management with the 21st CES, said the joint sessions have shown the units how well they can work together. "We each have our own things that we bring to the table, and I think once we get some more training time, it'll be beneficial," Airman Dietrick said. "The more you train together, the more you get in sync with exactly what you need to do and in what order," Tech. Sgt. Henderlong added. "And that really applies to any training, the more you practice, the more proficient you get."