Army Chemical Review

WINTER 2016

Army Chemical Review presents professional information about Chemical Corps functions related to chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear, smoke, flame, and civil support operations.

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44 specializing in decontamination, reconnaissance, or sam- pling and no organic EOD capability resident in their CBRN units. For the purposes of task organization and interoper- ability, the task force commander separated the CRTs into subteams and counted each one separately. This meant that the German task force consisted of two reconnaissance teams; four EOD teams; five decontamination teams; one fo- rensics team; and seven sample and identification of biologi- cal, chemical, and radiological agent (SIBCRA) teams. The task force commander tested the interoperability of the nations by selecting subteams from different nations to work together on each scenario. For example, a German re- connaissance team might work with a U.S. EOD team that would hand over the site to a Spanish SIBCRA team, with everyone processing through a French decontamination line. Working so closely with other nations demonstrated the similarity of much of the equipment and many of the proce- dures. In a few cases, with personnel rotating off-site due to heat concerns, some nations augmented others' decontami- nation lines with little to no shortfall in throughput or ca- pability. The CTTC indicated that it had never seen nations work so interchangeably as they had during this exercise. Although Exercise Precise Response helped break down previous interoperability barriers, the Soldiers worked hard to make sure that each mission concluded successfully. Due to exercise constraints, Soldiers were allowed limited time to complete each portion of the mission. Some Soldiers re- hearsed tactics, techniques, and procedures in the evenings to save time on target. In addition, although most of the leaders from the participating nations spoke English, many of their Soldiers spoke little, if any. This led to the devel- opment of interesting methods of communicating tasks and marking hazards in the hot zone. In the end, each mission concluded successfully and each nation met its training ob- jectives. Allowing CRTs to operate in a live-agent environment us- ing organic equipment and their own unit standard operat- ing procedures (SOPs) enabled the Soldiers to validate and gain confidence in the capabilities of the equipment and the accuracy of the techniques and procedures. The CTTC provided an opportunity for participating na- tions to use their own protective equipment, detectors, and SOPs in a live-agent environment. The CTTC provided safe- ty personnel to observe personnel in the hot zone, and those personnel allowed nations to operate freely, only interfering in case of serious safety concerns. At the conclusion of each mission, the safety personnel offered constructive feedback to the teams. After the teams processed their samples through the decontamination line, CTTC technicians provided ana- lytical reports to leaders. The purpose of the reports was to validate that the contents of the samples matched what was suspected and to critique the packaging techniques, materi- als used, and chain-of-custody paperwork. Applicable NATO allied engineering publication handbooks were used as es- tablished standards for the critiques. This type of feedback is invaluable in helping nations validate equipment and re- vise SOPs. Conclusion Exercise Precise Response serves as a great venue for experienced CRTs to gain confidence in equipment and pro- cedures. The opportunity to work with other NATO nations broadened Soldiers' perspectives of the CBRN task force concept and enabled the company to bring back valuable in- formation that will lead to the refinement of current SOPs. The photographs used in this article were taken by Canadian Forces Base Suffield Public Affairs Office, Alberta, Canada, and released to the United States for use. Captain Taylor is the of the (Technical Escort), 110th CBRN Battalion, Joint Base Lewis– McChord, Washington. He holds a bachelor's degree in applied U.S. Soldiers on the site of a live-agent target EOD Soldiers receive a mission briefing before entering a radioactive area. Army Chemical Review

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