Winfield airman participates in emergency response training

A shoulder-fired missile launches from a terrorist's weapon, resulting in a direct hit, and an American military airplane slams into the desert floor.

Miles away at an operations center, rescue crews are quickly mobilized, first with machine guns blasting from an attack airplane, followed by Air Force pararescue jumpers floating down to the earth to extract the downed crew.

Even though this exact scene really didn't happen, the son of a Winfield woman understands these types of threats and was among 1,400 U.S. military and coalition forces, federal and state officials at the fifth annual Angel Thunder exercise, the largest military combat search and rescue exercise in the world.

Air Force Staff Sgt. Robert C. Smeaton, son of Karen Blum of Winfield, is a flight engineer with 37th Helicopter Squadron based at F.E. Warren Air Force Base, Wyoming. He participated in the exercise as airlift support.

“I am a helicopter flight engineer and missile security for search and rescue operations. At Angel Thunder, I provide airlift support,” said Smeaton, a 1996 graduate of Wheaton North High School.

Angel Thunder is a two-week exercise where military rescue personnel from around the world conduct hands-on emergency response training to help them in dealing with possible catastrophic events.

Training scenarios range from mass casualty and downed aircraft drills, to humanitarian and disaster relief efforts in both day and night rescue missions. Angel Thunder also included urban environment scenarios, where rescue specialists encountered actors playing enemy forces or residents in realistic foreign villages as part of a rescue scene.

“I am supporting training for 1,723 personnel on combat search and rescue operations,” Smeaton said.

Angel Thunder is the only Department of Defense exercise for personnel recovery training and has become the world's largest, incorporating 62 aircraft, service members from the United States and 13 international allies, along with eight federal and state agencies.

The University of Arizona Medical Center in Tucson also was involved and received approximately 40 exercise mock casualties via helicopter or ambulance.

“The way we train is the way we will perform when the call comes,” Smeaton said.

Smeaton hopes he and his unit will never face a terrorist attack. But if the unimaginable occurs, teams like his will be able to react with a moment's notice.