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CONTACT:
Sharon Watson
Director, Public Affairs Office
Work: (785) 274-1192
Cell: (785) 806-4063
http://www.Kansas.gov/ksadjutantgeneral

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE   May 6, 2009

No. 09-043

CITY AND COUNTY OFFICIALS LEARN BENEFITS OF GREAT PLAINS JOINT TRAINING CENTER FOR SALINA AND REGION

Government officials from Salina and Saline County received an overview of the Great Plains Joint Training Center and its Crisis City venue during a briefing by the Kansas Adjutant General’s Department Wed. May 6 in Salina. The GPJTC is a joint civilian/military training facility. The meeting at Eckert Hall, Kansas Regional Training Institute, was hosted by Brig. Gen. Norman Steen, director of the Great Plains Joint Training Center.

Steen discussed the tremendous training capacity and boost in economic benefits the GPJTC provides to the city of Salina and surrounding region. A number of exercises hosted there throughout the year bring in people from around the country, and more are planned in the future. In addition, the facility has brought new jobs to Salina. Representatives from the Salina Airport Authority, Kansas State University and the city and county attended.

The GPJTC provides a location where military and emergency responders can train in a realistic environment either separately or jointly to prepare for real-life disaster response. The site includes the Smoky Hill Weapons Range and also Crisis City, designed for the military and first responders to exercise their plans when responding to a disaster in a local community.

Crisis City currently has a rail disaster venue which includes rail cars, tracks and services donated by Union Pacific, Burlington Northern Santa Fe, RJ Corman, Mid America Cars Inc., OxyChem, Simplot, Energy Transportation Incorporated and Transcaer.  Other venues planned or under construction include a rubble pile for search and rescue training; an “urban terrain” area which will be ideally suited for training in house-to-house searches, hostage situations and other crisis situations; hazmat training; an agriculture training venue, and pipeline venue.

For more information on GPJTC, go to: http://www.kansas.gov/ksadjutantgeneral/Library/GPJRTC.htm

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