How to resolve AdBlock issue? BAYEX 2023 - February 21-24
What do Levi Stadium, Alcatraz Island, BART, Ring Central Stadium and Santa Clara University have in common? They are all hosting an exercise called BAYEX 2023. California National Guard's Hayward-based 95th WMD Civil Support Team has partnered with federal, state, and local agencies including the FBI, NCRIC, USCG Pac Strike Team, Civil Support Teams from Los Angeles, Nevada, Idaho, and Colorado, local fire and law enforcement, and CoCo County’s Health Hazmat Team to conduct a four-day exercise responding to domestic threat, training scenarios. It’s real-world training that mimics worst-case-scenarios aimed at building interagency skills. BAYEX 2023 offers participants an opportunity to reinforce vitally important relationships and become better equipped with the tools needed to respond to CBRNE attacks.
Civil Support Teams were created in the mid-1990s to provide very rapid military chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear response capability. The 95th CST is one of two such highly specialized units in California. They provide instrumental personnel and equipment to support local and State agencies. The mission of CSTs is to support civil authorities at a domestic CBRNE incident site. These highly specialized units identify agents and substances, assess current and projected consequences, advise on response measures and assist with appropriate requests for additional State and Federal support.
BAYEX 2023 will involve nearly 1,800 participants including planners, responders, observers, controllers and role players over this four-day regional effort. Started in 2002, BAYEX is an annual training exercise that provides participants with training for a multi-jurisdictional and multi-agency response to a simulated complex and coordinated terrorist attack. The exercise focuses on site management and interoperability of communications networks, with evaluations of response concepts, plans and capabilities.
BAYEX’s overall scenario will feature a mock multifaceted CBRNE attack targeting commerce, modes of mass transit and places of international interest. The exercise includes scenarios at six different sites over the course of four days. One location is on Alcatraz Island, site of the infamous former prison—now a major tourist attraction. Participants will be tasked with evacuating the island after the dispersion of an unknown chemical agent. Another scenario will take place on a Bay Area Rapid Transit train near the Millbrae station. This particular scenario will test the participants’ ability to identify and mitigate radiation sources and a radiation dispersal device planted on a Train. Other sites include the Hornet Museum in Alameda, Santa Clara University and Ring Central Coliseum.