From August 19-21, Applied Training Solutions, LLC provided crucial support to the New Jersey National Guard (NJNG) during the VIGILANT GUARD exercise held at the NJNG armory in Lawrenceville, NJ. This exercise, under the direction of U.S. Northern Command, aimed to enhance the readiness of the New Jersey National Guard to assist the New Jersey Office of Emergency Management (NJOEM) and the state’s citizens in the event of a major disaster.
The primary goal of the VIGILANT GUARD exercise was to validate the All-Hazards Response Plans and improve coordination between the New Jersey National Guard, the Office of Emergency Management, and federal partners. ATS contributed to this effort by employing their ATSsim Suite, which includes the ATSsim Training and ATSsim Media tools, to provide a realistic simulation environment.
U.S. Army Capt. Jeff Silver, Lead VIGILANT GUARD Planner for the New Jersey National Guard, highlighted the impact of ATS’s involvement, stating, “New Jersey’s Vigilant Guard exercise was extremely effective in strengthening the relationship between the guard and NJOEM/New Jersey State Police. ATS played a pivotal role in ensuring the realism of the exercise was sufficient for the training value. Without ATS’s software and training of the LOCON (simulated units and role players) elements, the exercise would have been severely lacking in the realism department.”
Silver went on to mention the ATSsim Training tool enabled soldiers replicating downtrace units to report realistic information, driving the exercise and providing valuable experience for the Joint Staff and Joint Task Force product development.
ATSsim Training is an agile disaster training, exercise, and observation tool. It provides users with a simulated training environment that is realistic and customizable to meet each user’s unique training and exercise needs.
“The ATS Media team crafted an alarmingly realistic depiction of the social media climate during the exercise. Our Public Affairs team was thrilled to be actively involved and gained a great deal of experience during the exercise,” he said.
ATSsim Media is a media and social media platform which replicates social media outlets, traditional media and websites to create a robust, virtual information environment for training purposes.
The success of this exercise underscored the importance of ATS’s simulation tools in delivering realistic training environments while offering significant cost savings compared to traditional live field exercises. ATS’s involvement ensured that the New Jersey National Guard and the New Jersey Office of Emergency Management were better prepared to respond to potential disasters, ultimately benefiting the citizens of New Jersey.
As a leader in emergency preparedness training and readiness, ATS continues to actively work to deliver innovative, experience-based disaster-preparedness exercise solutions for local, state, and federal agencies to protect communities. Preparation for disasters helps reduce panic and possible loss of life. Utilizing simulation helps these units prepare for managing multiple units during a real-life event.
