In May 2000, the Ukrainian press reported that residents were trapped and needing assistance after a flood near the Pechenizs’ke Reservoir on the outskirts of Karkiv as water levels rose on the Sivers’kyi Donets River. Residents were seen on rooftops awaiting rescue. The Ukrainian government appealed to the international community for help. The response was immediate. As aid poured in, a plane carrying rescue and medical workers crashed southeast of Karkiv causing an explosion at an automobile factory located in Chuhuiv.

Rough and Ready is a disaster response exercise in which California Air National Guard and members of California’s Emergency Medical Services Authority (EMSA) participate with civilians and military members from Ukraine – focusing on interagency cooperation, disaster preparedness, emergency response and civil emergency planning. The exercises presaged the February 2022 Russian invasion of the Ukraine when the Pechenizs’ke Reservoir was actually bombed in September 2022 in an attempt to destroy critical infrastructure.

Richard Watson (my Father), then Interim Director of California’s EMSA, and his indispensable Chief, Dan Smiley, joined members of the State of California National Guard, EMSA, California Department of Health Services and California Disaster Medical Assistance Teams (DMAT) in the 2000 Rough and Ready exercise. Dad lead the civilian medical personnel, and Deputy Director Smiley was the primary civilian planner for the event which was lead by General David Hudlet from the California Air National Guard. Rough and Ready 2000, was held near Kharkiv, at a Ukrainian National Guard facility. The California team consisted of 165 personnel including the California National Guard and civilian medical and health personnel. In addition to simulating a disaster, the team provided humanitarian aid and health education to the population during the event. Funding was provided by the Cooperative Threat Reduction program.

“The California National Guard has had a close working relationship with the Ukraine military and the Ukraine National Guard since 1993,” writes Jim Garamone. “When Russia invaded Ukraine with more than 150,000 troops…most people — especially Russian President Vladimir Putin — expected a Russian cakewalk. The men and women of the California National Guard knew better.”

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One of the charities Dad supported was Doctors Without Borders (Médecins Sans Frontières). The nonprofit provides emergency medical aid to people in crisis, with humanitarian projects in more than seventy countries, including Ukraine.

Of course, Dad managed to find an Irish pub when he was in Karkiv.

They’ve got one in Honolulu, they’ve got one in Moscow too
They got four of them in Sydney and a couple in Kathmandu
So whether you sing or pull a pint, you’ll always have a job
‘Cause wherever you go around the world you’ll find an Irish pub

–The High Kings