April 2010 • Plains Guardian Page 1 Flora retires; 35th Infantry “We lost a Link assumes Division con- hero today.” command of ducts joint Col. Jim Kansas Air exercise with Trafton dies National Republic of in turnpike Guard ........3 Korea .........8 accident ...13 VolumePlains 53 No. 2 Serving the Kansas Army and Air National Guard, KansasGuardian Division of Emergency Management, Kansas Homeland Security and Civil Air Patrol April 2010 NGB chief McKinley tours Great Plains Joint Training Center By Sharon Watson what they need,” Bunting said. for their efforts. he would ask some of his team to come visit Public Affairs Offi ce McKinley expressed appreciation for McKinley told reporters there are po- the site to determine the possibilities. Gen. Craig McKinley, chief of the Bunting’s vision and ability to make the tential opportunities where the Great Plains “I can’t think of a better venue than this National Guard Bureau, visited the Great site a reality. Joint Training Center might provide the best facility right here, right in the heartland of Plains Joint Training Center in Salina, “With Fort Riley, this facility can bring venue for national training needs and said America,” said McKinley. Kan., on March 26. He took an aerial and so much training space to this part of the ground tour of parts of the center and country,” McKinley noted. the new 160-acre site where military and The fi rst joint civilian-military training civilian fi rst responders train together for at the Great Plains Joint Training Center state disaster response. and Crisis City was in June 2009 when the “This is a world treasure out here, very fi eld portion of the Vigilant Guard exercise impressed,” McKinley said. involved a train derailment and building McKinley was invited by Maj. Gen. collapse. Another large-scale exercise is Tod Bunting, Kansas adjutant general, planned for July 2010 and will involve a to view the site developed over the past number of military and civilian participants. couple of years and opened for training During his visit, McKinley toured the last summer. Crisis City headquarters building, which The training venue includes Crisis City, is nearing completion. It will provide a a replica of a small city that allows re- second-story observation room for instruc- sponders a more realistic training scenar- tors to watch the various components of io. It includes a rubble pile for a building an exercise unfold. It will also provide collapse and actual overturned rail cars classroom instruction. for a hazardous chemical spill. Additional A group of fi refi ghters involved in venues are being added. a search and rescue exercise greeted “We designed the site after getting McKinley as he got a close-up view of the input from our civilian fi rst responders on rubble pile at Crisis City. He thanked them Kansas fi refi ghters conduct search Maj. Gen. Tod Bunting (left), the adjutant general, and Gen. Craig McKinley, chief of the National Guard Bureau, talk with Kansas fi refi ghters conducting training at Crisis City, located at the Great Plains Joint Training Center in Salina. McKinley and rescue training at Crisis City visited the center in March. (Photo by Sharon Watson, Public Affairs Offi ce) By Maj. DeAnn Barr Search Specialist Training, a Kansas Divi- Great Plains Joint Training Center sion of Emergency Management initiative. Secretary of Defense receives Twenty-fi ve fi refi ghters from across During the fi ve-day training event, stu- Kansas gathered at Crisis City, located at dents learned to locate victims by narrow- the Great Plains Joint Training Center in ing search parameters utilizing equipment award, recalls Kansas roots Salina, March 22 to 26 to attend Technical such as ultrasonic listening devices, spe- By Maj. Mike Wallace present to honor Secretary Gates, includ- cialized search and rescue cameras, search 105th Mobile Public Affairs Detachment ing former Kansas governor and current robots and GPS locating equipment. Key leaders in the Kansas Army Health and Human Services Secretary, The multitude of venues offered at Cri- National Guard attended the speech given Kathleen Sebelius, Kansas Governor Mark sis City, including the 10,000 ton rubble by Secretary of Defense, Dr. Robert M. Parkinson, U.S. Senator Sam Brownback pile, structure collapse building, land Gates, when he was presented the Dis- and U.S. Representative Todd Tiahrt. PAID navigation range and classrooms, made tinguished Kansan of the Year Award in “I was surprised on how down-to-earth PRSRT STD PRSRT SALEM, OR the class cost-effective and convenient for Topeka on Jan. 29 by the Native Sons and he was,” said Col. John Andrew, Kansas U.S. POSTAGE PERMIT NO. 178 PERMIT participants. Daughters of Kansas. Army National Guard Chief of Staff. “His “Given its central location, this is soon Numerous political leaders were (Continued on Page 11) to be an incredible training facility,” said Capt. John Troyer from the Sedgwick County Fire Department, an assistant with the course. “The training environment is in close proximity to the overnight lodg- ing. Where else can you stay overnight for $15 and have access to cheap meals?” After 24 years of fi refi ghting experi- ence, Troyer appreciates what the training center has to offer. “Usually everywhere we go to train we have to build our own scenarios and it’s all here. All we have to do is send our people with their personal protective equipment,” said Troyer. The most extensive class to prepare for is the Structure Collapse Technician Course that requires two months to set up each time it’s taught, according to Troyer. Instructors need to arrive days prior to the class in order to assemble tons of concrete FORCE blocks, cut steel and prepare for the hands- on training scenarios. 2800 S. Topeka Blvd. Topeka 2800 S. Secretary of Defense Dr. Robert Gates received the Distinguished Kansan of the OFFICIAL BUSINESS OFFICIAL Topeka Kansas 66611-1287 Topeka Adjutant General of Kansas Penalty for Private Use, $300 “Here it’s all set up and I can show up Year award in January. During his acceptance speech, Gates displayed his down- DEPARTMENT OFTHE ARMY OFTHE DEPARTMENT NATIONAL GUARD OF KANSAS GUARD OF NATIONAL and teach. It’s a very labor intensive and cost to-earth Kansas common sense and humor. (Photo by Maj. Mike Wallace, 105th DEPARTMENT AND AIR OF THE ARMY DEPARTMENT (Continued on Page 10) Mobile Public Affairs Detachment) Page 2 Plains Guardian • April 2010 “Meet Your Local Heroes Day” Bringing closure: 190th supports MIA recovery mission in Vietnam By Capt. Joe Blubaugh is the responsibility of the research and 190th ARW Public Affairs investigation teams. While the excavations There has been little chance for closure are ongoing, investigation teams are work- for the families of more than 1,300 Viet- ing with Vietnamese offi cials, interview- nam veterans who are listed as Missing in ing witnesses and visiting potential sites Action. Although some of the MIAs have for future missions. been missing for more than 40 years, their Kelly Ray is a retired Air Force linguist service brethren haven’t given up hope of and the team leader for one of the two someday returning them back to American investigation teams on this mission. This is soil and to hopefully provide the closure Ray’s 45th trip to Vietnam as a JPAC mem- so many families are still seeking. ber including his military and civilian trips. Three or four times a year, the Joint Ray’s team scheduled interviews with POW/MIA Accountability Command retired Vietnamese Army veterans that sends a team of Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen were witnesses when a U.S. servicemem- and Marines to Vietnam to search for the ber was killed or went missing. During the remains of the missing servicemembers. interviews, the investigation team have JPAC’s mission is to achieve the fullest the witnesses take them to the burial site, possible accounting of all Americans miss- if possible. The investigation team surveys How do you defi ne a hero? Students from Robinson Middle School, Wichita, ing as a result of the nation’s past confl icts. the site and, based on their fi ndings, rec- had the opportunity to answer that question when 184th Security Forces mem- In February, the 190th Air Refuel- ommends site for future excavation. bers joined with other local law enforcement agencies at the Meet Your Local ing Wing was tasked with transporting Ray says the information they gather Heroes Day event. Equipped with two tactical response vehicles and accounts a 25-member advance team and their is taken back to Hickam Air Force Base, of their own experiences ranging from natural disaster responses in Kansas cargo to the Southeast Asian country. Hawaii, where a board reviews the rec- and Louisiana to overseas missions in support of the War on Terror, 184th The JPAC team is comprised of anthro- ommendations and decides whether an members Tech. Sgt. Mark Wall, Staff Sgt. Quentin Morris, Staff Sgt. Jeffrey pologists, linguists, explosive ordinance excavation is warranted. Nicholson and Master Sgt. Bill Cook represented the Kansas Air National specialists, logisticians and medics. The Army Capt. Greg Smith, the leader of Guard. (Photo by Master Sgt. Eric Smith, 184th Security Forces Squadron) advance team works very closely with one of the recovery teams, says a very the Vietnamese government to negotiate small sample of human remains can lead potential excavation sites and sets up lo- to the identity of an MIA. gistical infrastructure so excavations can “We only need a bone fragment the School counselors get up-close begin immediately upon the arrival of the size of a tooth.” If remains are found, they 50-member main body.