DANEX 06:
Two crewmembers from the HMCS IROQUOIS are carrying a wounded civilian. The man is employed at the embassy and he has been wounded during the hectic eventd in the small Islandic province.
Now he hopes to be evacuated by the international navy force which has landed in the area. First of all however he will receive medical attention and his papers will be checked. Nothing is left to coincident in an operation like this one.
All day dinghies have been sailing back and forth from the beach to the three waiting ships from the Standing NATO Response Force Maritime Group 1 (SMNG 1).
About 80 men and women have been landed from the ships, all of them to solve different tasks ashore. From doctors to mess hands. An armed security force has also been landed. They secure the assembly area where the NATO-citizens are gathered. The outer perimeter is kept safe by the Royal Danish Hussars.
Busy doctors and good food
Outside the green medical tent a group of wounded civilians have gathered. One of them is Nynne Bern Jensen, her left foot is all purple, and she tries to look unhappy:
“Actually part of my role is to be very dissatisfied with the treatment I receive, but it is hard. I’d much rather play a happy role,” says the wounded role player as she suppresses a smile.
She is a student at Odsherred Gymnasium and together with 120 others; she is a role player in today’s exercise.
Photo: Martin Pedersen, RDN |
The doctor in charge of the SNMG 1 medical team, Commander Hönninger, examines the purple foot. He asks the girl what happened and where it hurts before he rushes on to the next patient. The doctors in the assembly area are busy as almost half of the role players are wounded.
”The role players put up a good act, and we are learning a lot about handling large quantities of wounded,” the German doctor explains, before one of the medics call him into the tent to attend a ‘pregnant’ woman who is about to give birth.
The small area is filled with role players. Many of them are wounded, but none are hungry – that is ensured by Navy personnel. The crew from the galley aboard HMCS IROQOUIS has arranged a large lunch buffet and the civilian guests are filling their stomachs as they wait.
Photo: Martin Pedersen, RDN |
Valuable lessons
Non-combatant evacuation is one of many assignments that the NATO-force can be called on, to carry out, and the units in SNMG 1 have all been looking forward to the NEO day of DANEX 06. The SNMG 1 staff is satisfied with today’s operation: “we have learnt a lot about our strengths and weaknesses today,” Commander Chris Dickenson from the Canadian led NATO staff explains.
He admits that not everything went according to plan but, as he notes, it seldom does: ”No plan survives the first encounter with the enemy, and today we encountered more wounded civilians than we had anticipated. SNMG 1 consists of destroyers and frigates not hospital ships, the large number of wounded caused the schedule to slide a little,” the Canadian officer says. He states that despite all the exercise as a whole was a great success.
Photo: Martin Pedersen, RDN |
Also the 120 role players seem to have had a good day. As one of them says as she is escorted to the dinghy by an Canadian sailor: “everything is so well organized. If I ever was in real trouble these guys certainly would be allowed to save me.”
When the role players get on board the ships they are welcomed by a hot meal, a place to rest and a once in a lifetime opportunity to see a large foreign warship first hand.
Additional Photos: Part I Part II Part III