Georgia Wing members are joining forces with the National Guard Bureau and federal, state, and local emergency agencies for PATRIOT 25, a full-scale disaster response exercise running through March 29 at multiple locations across Georgia.
PATRIOT 25, which began March 16, simulates the aftermath of a catastrophic 6.9-magnitude earthquake centered in Savannah. The exercise focuses on readiness and interoperability among emergency responders during large-scale disaster scenarios.
The PATRIOT exercise program exists to create a joint training and exercise environment allowing soldiers and airmen from the National Guard to assess their military skills and their special life-saving capabilities when civilian authorities request Defense Support of Civilian Authorities assistance during domestic catastrophes resulting from natural or man-made events.
Civil Air Patrol’s participation in PATRIOT includes aerial reconnaissance, emergency communications, and ground team integration to assist with simulated search and rescue, public safety, and damage assessment missions.
“This exercise gives us a powerful opportunity to work side-by-side with our emergency management partners,” said Lt. Col. Fred Broome, Georgia Wing incident commander for the mission. “From real-time imagery collection to backup communications, our members train year-round to provide rapid, mission-ready support when it matters most.”
Training locations include Savannah Air Dominance Combat Readiness Training Center, Fort Stewart, Camp Merrill, Guardian Center in Perry, and select Georgia Ports Authority sites.
One of the participants, Cadet Capt. Elisha Penland of the Forsyth County Cadet Squadron, recently acted as a role player in Survival, Evasion, Resistance, and Escape training with the U.S. Air Force.
“I honed my skills as a ground team member and trained in areas that are a great addition to my skill set,” Penland said. “This also gave me the chance to connect with backcountry unit search and rescue members from the Smoky Mountains and strengthen relationships within the Georgia Wing emergency services community.”
She’s serving as a mission staff assistant to the wing’s incident management team during PATRIOT 25, supporting the planning and execution of critical training operations.
Cadet 1st Lt. Jackson Burbrink of the Dawson County Composite Squadron described how the exercise has expanded his experience in joint operations and search and rescue training.
“We got to work with Air Force (Survival, Evasion, Resistance, and Escape) specialists, search and rescue dogs, and backcountry unit search and rescue teams on land navigation, survival, aircraft vectoring, and even border security,” Burbrink said.
“PATRIOT 25 has helped us grow as emergency services personnel and deepen our connections with other search and rescue organizations,” he added.
In addition to Civil Air Patrol’s traditional roles in communications and search and rescue, the Georgia Wing’s small Unmanned Aircraft Systems teams are playing a vital part in infrastructure assessment missions during the exercise.
First Lts. Jeff Seargeant, Ellijay Composite Squadron commander, and Philip Guhl, Group V emergency services officer, were tasked with flying sUAS missions to photograph Carters, Allatoona, and Buford dam structures.
“We collected images of Carters Dam from five separate locations,” Seargeant said. “It took about an hour of flight time to capture nearly 300 photos for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers — this is a great example of how CAP supports real-world emergency operations.”
In addition, Lt. Col. Craig Young, commander of the Columbus Composite Squadron, and Cadet Maj. Matthew Westenkrichner and Cadet Senior Airman Brandon Herrera conducted drone imagery operations at West Point Dam and a drone mapping mission at the Guardian Center in Perry._____Lt. Col. Elizabeth PeacePublic Affairs OfficerGeorgia Wing
