Area residents have an opportunity to act and make a little money while helping the military and civilian first responders prepare for a national emergency.
About 200 temporary role players are needed to participate in national disaster training exercises at the Muscatatuck Urban Training Center (MUTC) from April 22 through May 22.
The Guardian Response and Vibrant Response training exercises will run simultaneously at Camp Atterbury, MUTC, the North Vernon Municipal Airport and the Jennings County Fairgrounds.
More than 5,000 members of the military and civilian first responders nationwide will participate in the largest disaster training event in the nation.
The exercises are designed to train military and civilian agencies to respond to chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear (CBRN) attacks on civilian communities.
The role players will earn an hourly wage to play the part of civilians injured or distressed during a CBRN attack. Most of the role-playing activities will take place at MUTC.
National disaster training has taken place at MUTC annually for the past 10 years. Civilian role players have participated in previous exercises.
“In the past, some of our role players have been professional actors. However, most have not been. It’s been kind of magical how the actors and the non-actors all come together to make the disaster seem very realistic,” said Debbie DeWeese, a spokesperson for the Valbin Corporation, which is contracted by the military to hire civilian role players to participate in the exercise.
According to DeWeese, the role-players will act the parts of civilians seriously injured in the disaster. They will also pretend to be looters and hysterical civilians affected by the disaster, and will participate in a variety of other situations likely to occur during a disaster in a civilian community.
“Civilian role players are vital to the Vibrant Response/Ground Response exercise. They provide the military and first responders with a realism which cannot be duplicated by anything else,” Camp Atterbury Deputy Commander Lt. Col Jens Pedersen said.
“We have some role-players return every year. One lady comes all the way from Chicago because she enjoys it so much,” DeWeese said. “This year we have had some trouble getting enough new role players though. I don’t know why. It’s a great way to make money while you are helping to save lives. It’s really a way to make everyone’s community safer.”
Role players will be paid $12.83 base pay per hour, plus another $4.48 per hour in a health and welfare benefit. All costumes, make-up and equipment involved will be provided to the role-players by the Valbin Company.
Applicants must be at least 18 years of age, a U.S. citizen, pass a background check and pass a drug screen. Applicants must also provide two forms of government identification.
For more information, call 301-986-8008.
