Next week Kenai Peninsula Borough employees, local emergency responders, and the Army National Guard will carry out an Alaska SHIELD crisis exercise in the heart of Soldotna.
Sergeant First Class Albert Burns says Guard members will be stationed at the Shady Lane and East Park Avenue intersections with Binkley, the streets on either sides of the Kenai Peninsula Borough Building.
Sgt. Burns: “It’s the school side and then the side where the housing is, and we’re not shutting it down, we’re just blocking them off to keep most of the traffic out of those small areas right around the borough building to make sure that nobody who’s not in play, doesn’t get involved.”
He says their main job there will be security but will let people know that the activity around the Borough building is a drill.
Sgt. Burns: “Beyond that, the guys won’t necessarily all know what’s going on, they will make sure the public is told to go to specific locations where the media is going to be at and where the people are going to be to answer those questions.”
The Alaska SHIELD drill is an exercise to practice the effectiveness of local agencies’ response plans to various types of crises. Various agencies have roles that they will “play” and may not know the full details.
Beginning on March 31 there will be three modules of activity: one will be a simulation of an active shooter, another of a simulation of a cyber attack, and the third will be testing borough employees on their ability to work outside their usual office spaces.
Members of the public may notice local emergency agencies active in the area so organizers ask community members to spread the word that this is a drill and not to get involved with the simulation in any manner.
You can find more about the SHIELD exercise by clicking here.