National Guard servicemen were gathered around the artificial turf fields outside the Student Recreation Center early on May 2. They stood in small groups, arms crossed in the morning chill, chatting and cracking jokes. Many walked over to DUX Bistro in the LLC to grab coffee or breakfast. A low-flying helicopter passed over the Knight Law Center.
The exercise was a mass-evacuation scenario, part of a statewide operation codenamed Vigilant Guard@@http://www.ng.mil/features/vigilantguard11/default.aspx@@, said Specialist Cory Grogan, a media representative for the Oregon National Guard.@@http://blog.oregonlive.com/oregonatwar/2012/04/operation_vigilant_guard_takes.html@@
“One of the biggest things since 9/11 has been developing communication between civil and defense agencies. I know for a fact that the National Guard’s partnership with Eugene has been very good,” Grogan said. “I feel Eugene is pretty well-prepared to handle any kind of emergency it might face. Exercises like this help to pinpoint weaknesses in response procedures.”
As the morning continued, students walked up and down East 15th Avenue going to class or visiting the rec center. Many seemed not to notice the guard, and if they were curious, spared only a lingering glance on their way past.
“They’re doing some sort of exercise I think,” University student Meredith Duce@@http://directory.uoregon.edu/telecom/directory.jsp?p=findpeople%2Ffind_results&m=student&d=person&b=name&s=Meredith+Duce@@ said. “I don’t know exactly what, but I saw in an email that they are doing something today.”

At 9:30 a.m., the action started.
There were 140 National Guard service members who assumed their roles as mock casualties of a large-scale natural disaster who required evacuation. “Help!” They cried out, “I’m bleeding to death! My ankle has fallen off!” The fake cries of distress went up around the field. “Where’s my momma? I want my mom! Where is she?” shouted a National Guard member as she was led off the turf field by firefighters from the Eugene Fire Department.@@http://www.kmtr.com/news/local/story/Eugene-Fire-Department-welcomes-a-new-furry-face/fv3Yx0uNSkOctXVCM6DguA.cspx@@

At 9:45 a.m. a United States Army helicopter landed on Howe Field to evacuate critically injured casualties.@@http://www.goducks.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=500&ATCLID=22182@@
“We have a lot of experience in handling mass evacuations,” said Brig. Gen. Bruce W. Prunk of the Oregon Air National Guard. @@http://www.ng.mil/ngbgomo/library/bio/2040.htm@@”Most of the local hospitals would be quickly overwhelmed with casualties and they would need to be evacuated to other areas to receive medical attention as soon as possible. That’s why we’re running this exercise.”
Overall exercise commander Brig. Gen. Eric C. Bush was pleased with how the exercise went on campus.@@http://www.centraloregonian.com/archives/story.aspx/13067/police-chief-promoted-to-brigadier-general@@
“It’s been going really well. We’ve hit all our benchmarks and the operation has gone without a hitch,” Bush said. “We’re really happy with the support we’ve gotten from the University of Oregon and the city of Eugene in particular.”
The University went to great lengths to make sure the exercise did not interfere with regular life. Several smaller trials of the exercise were run earlier in April and several emails were sent out to students, faculty and University employees. The rec center prepared printed handouts for their staff detailing the nature of the exercise and the schedule of events.
The exercises around Oregon and at the University campus concluded around noon.