Arnold Air Force Base, TN – The Tennessee National Guard conducted disaster response exercises to bolster readiness, response and interoperability with federal, state and local agencies. A portion of the exercise played out at Arnold Air Force Base, where Guardsmen with the Tennessee National Guard and their partners were assisted by members of the Arnold AFB Fire and Emergency Services team. The drill will benefit Rutherford and surrounding counties. Arnold AFB is in neighboring Coffee County, just outside of Tullahoma.
The effort was a component of a broader response exercise known as Vigilant Guard. Co-sponsored by the U.S. Northern Command and the National Guard Bureau, Vigilant Guard, is a national-level disaster response drill carried out by National Guard units throughout the country annually.
In Tennessee, Vigilant Guard 2025 exercises were conducted May 12-18 by the Tennessee Department of Military in conjunction with the Tennessee Emergency Management Agency and more than 30 partnering agencies. According to the Tennessee Department of Military, these exercises allowed National Guardsmen from Tennessee, along with Guardsmen from Georgia, Mississippi, South Carolina, Texas, Utah, North Dakota and Wyoming, the “ability to command a statewide response to a major disaster in coordination with the Tennessee and Mississippi Emergency Management Agencies.”…