‘This year’s Konfitma exercise will be intense’

Homeland Security and Emergency Management special assistant Gerald Deleon Guerrero discusses this year’s full-scale Konfitma exercise as U.S. Army Pacific Weapons of Mass Destruction-Civil Support System Enhanced Response Force Package Training and Readiness Division director Ray Toves and HSEM spokesperson Nadine Deleon Guerrero listen during a press conference at the Emergency Operations Center in Capital Hill yesterday. (Ferdie De La Torre)

This year’s 24-hour, full-scale, all-hazard exercise called Konfitma will be non-stop and very intense, according to Ray Toves, director of U.S. Army Pacific, Weapons of Mass Destruction-Civil Support System Enhanced Response Force Package Training and Readiness Division.

Toves said they are going to start off slow to kind of exercise all agencies individually, and then they would come together for Konfitma.

“That’s basically the reason why we came up with Konfitma. Its English term or translation is ‘confirming with the plans,’” said Toves during a press conference yesterday at the Emergency Operations Center on Capital Hill.

The Homeland Security and Emergency Management’s annual Konfitma will start today, Tuesday, until Friday, on Saipan and Rota. Approximately 100 personnel from different CNMI government agencies will be involved in the exercise. In terms of sub-supporting, about 60 responders are from Guam, Hawaii, Utah, Tennessee, and Washington state.

Toves said they have chosen several locations throughout Saipan and Rota to set up scenarios that involve chemical, biological, radiological, and explosives.

“They are all live. We have complete control of them. But it is only to test the first responders…to work together as a collective team to handle and mitigate whatever hazards are out there,” Toves said.

He said the exercise intends to teach everyone each other’s capability “so that when we do gather together, you’re not going to get confused on how to…handle…hazards.”

He said that training together prepares them for any kind of future disasters, mitigates recovery efforts and boost lifesaving and property saving efforts.

“That’s the reason why we do this exercise every year,” he added.

Toves pointed out that there is not one entity that can say they are masters at an all-hazard exercise.

“But the continuous efforts of annually doing this exercise makes us even better,” he said.

The first Konfitma exercise was held in 2010.

HSEM special assistant Gerald Deleon Guerrero said Konfitma is an annual exercise that they do with their federal partners. “Basically, it’s part of a grant that we receive in the CNMI that requires we do a one annual full-scale exercise,” Gerald Deleon Guerrero said.

HSEM spokesperson Nadine C. Deleon Guerrero said they will not disclose the exact scenarios but warns the public to be aware that they will be having different scenarios throughout the islands of Saipan and Rota.

She said if people hear any kinds of explosion, sirens from emergency responding vehicles, or presence of more first responders on public traffic, it is just part of an exercise and that they should not be alarmed.

“We are not shooting people. This is…to train our emergency responders and make sure that we identify gaps,” she said.

“With that being said, we still want the public know that if you see any kind of suspicious activities, to please go ahead and report it anyhow just in case they are not related to Konfitma 18,” she added.

Nadine Deleon Guerrero said this is the time when first responders get together to identify the gaps are.

“So in real life response we mitigate as few fatalities, as few property damage as we can,” she said.