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National Guard conducts week-long training exercise

Sophia Schmidt
/
Delaware Public Media

The 166th Airlift Wing conducts a training scenario at the Delaware Air National Guard Base at the New Castle County Airport this week.

 

Exercises during the week-long training allow Delaware National Guard members to prepare for various potential environment threats they could face when deployed.

“Essentially our traditional Guardsmen are coming on Base to train for a deployment readiness exercise. So what’s going to happen is - just increased Base activity; they’re going to go through simulated training events, whether it’s a deployment line or just certain emergencies that are on Base; just sort of to flex our muscles to be able to respond at a moments notice,” said Major Bernie Kale, director of public affairs for the Delaware National Guard.

He explains why the training is imperative.

 

“So it’s very important for any traditional Guardsmen, folks who have civilian jobs on the outside and who come in two days a month and two weeks a year - to be able to go through these sort of activity duty-style training scenarios, said Kale. "So that way when we do get called up - either stateside or to be deployed down-range - they know exactly the procedures that they need to do.”

 

Kale notes that exercise is a bit different due to COVID-19.

 

“We have been following all of the CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) and DoD (Department of Defense) guidelines for safety," said Kale. "A lot of members are going to have masks; they’re going to be socially distant. Sanitation areas are going to be available. So we want to make sure we do this smart because our members have to be ready - and that includes they have to be healthy. So we’re taking all the precautions necessary.” 

 
Kale notes that people can expect to see and hear increased activity through Friday at the New Castle County Airport.

 

Kelli Steele has over 30 years of experience covering news in Delaware, Baltimore, Winchester, Virginia, Phoenix, Arizona and San Diego, California.