The exercises, held twice a year by the 25th Infantry Division (Light), began last week when a mock earthquake off of Alaska triggered a 100-foot tsunami and several smaller 50-foot waves that crippled Hilo and displaced 5,000 civilians.
It ended yesterday at Hickam Air Force Base with the 45th Corps Support Group (Forward) loading and tying down 47 pieces of heavy equipment, including bulldozers, Humvees, generators, trucks, pallets of emergency food supplies, concertina wire, plywood, stakes and barriers on military cargo planes.
All of the relief supplies were supposed to be airlifted to Hilo, but the Army and the Air Force only went through the process of securing the equipment. Nothing was taken off the island.
Earlier in the week, the Army also tested its deployment procedures moving soldiers through various processing stations.
"We did everything except to load them on airplanes and fly them off," said Col. Ross Thompson III, 45th Group commander.
Thompson said the military under exercise's scenario was asked to provide an engineer task force to provide a damage assessment, clear debris, reopen roads and rebuild bridges in Hilo caused by the tsunami.
Initially, the Army was asked to provide its water producing equipment which can produce 3,000 gallons of drinkable water an hour. However, midway through the problem the requirement was changed since the civilian authorities were able to procure drinkable bottle water from a local source.
The training also involved planning moving emergency supplies and equipment by Army ships and commercial barges.