Army Chemical Review presents professional information about Chemical Corps functions related to chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear, smoke, flame, and civil support operations.
Issue link: https://chemical.epubxp.com/i/533676
Army Chemical Review 10 law enforcement agencies (ranging from bomb disposal in civilian communities to the packaging and movement of re- covered chemical warfare materiel); the ground collection task force for the national technical nuclear forensics mis- sion, led by the Federal Bureau of Investigation; and other special missions with recall windows ranging from 4 hours to 2 weeks. In addition, 20th CBRNE Command forces are concurrently deployed in support of multiple geographic and functional commands and CARA is concurrently engaged with ongoing recovered chemical warfare material remedia- tion missions at formerly used defense sites and remains ready to support analytical operations anytime, anywhere. 20th CBRNE Command formations had historically been employed as individual units based on the capabilities re- quired at the company level or higher; however, command- ers expressed interest in having a single CBRNE headquar- ters responsible for the integration and employment of these low-density, highly technical capabilities. Therefore, during 2013 operational planning activities for contingency op- erations, leaders of supported Army divisions and corps re- quested an integrating headquarters for all attached CBRN and EOD formations. As a result, the 20th CBRNE Com- mand began organizing, training, and employing tailored CBRNE task forces with different CBRN and EOD capabili- ties to meet the full range of CBRNE hazards anticipated in the operational environment. Strategic Guidance An impetus for forming CBRNE task forces was also con- tained in multiple strategic documents. The - gic Planning Guidance–2013 states that ". . . the Army will implement a regionally aligned force concept that leverages the scalable capabilities of modular structures to provide mission-tailored forces to combatant commanders" and ". . . regional alignment will provide the combatant commander up to joint task force-capable headquarters with scalable, tailorable capabilities to shape the environment and pro- vide contingency forces." 2 And the Quadrennial Defense Review–2014 reemphasizes the pursuit of "employing regionally-focused forces to provide additional tailored packages." 3 In addition, the - ance–2014 states that, "Agile, adaptive, and integrated con- ventional forces, special operations forces (SOF), special- ized [EOD] and CBRN forces, and missile defense provide a unique mix of scalable and tailorable capabilities across the total Army." 4 Furthermore, Force 2025 and Beyond: Unifed Land Operations—Win indicates that the Army provides the preponderance of forces and capabili- ties necessary to counter WMD threats and CBRNE hazards in the land domain. 5 A complex and unpredictable environment is a common strategic guidance theme that calls for an agile, adaptive, tailorable, and expeditionary Army. The 20th CBRNE Com- mand, in partnership with supported maneuver forces, has thoroughly analyzed these challenges and will meet the demands of the rapidly changing strategic environment by task-organizing and regionally aligning subordinate forma- tions to ensure that forces are best organized, best trained, and focused on specifc global threats. Organization The 20th CBRNE Command is proposing to reor- ganize and regionally align the command into three multifunctional CBRNE brigade task forces, with each task force enabled by a chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear, and explosives coordination element (CCE) that is enhanced with robust CBRNE planning and technical reachback ca- pabilities (see Figure 1). Whether organized for training or contingency operations or as an enduring organization, this multifunctional task force structure is designed to— • Deliver more capable and regionally focused CBRNE forces. • Mitigate the challenges of historical ad hoc solutions to similar and anticipated future mission sets. • Overcome current unity-of-command and unity-of-effort challenges resulting from the geographically distributed basing construct and complex mission profles of the com- mand. Regional Alignment To better focus training and preparation for regional contingencies while building the confdence of home station Army CBRN and EOD formation partners, the 20th CBRNE Command is proposing that each CBRNE brigade task force be regionally aligned with specifc Army service component commands, consistent with the FORSCOM mission align- ment orders for the CONUS-based corps: • Task Force 71 (CBRNE), positioned in the western Unit- ed States, is aligned to support I Corps, with a focus on the U.S. Pacifc Command area of responsibility. • Task Force 48 (CBRNE), positioned in the central United States, is aligned to support III Corps and is focused on the U.S. Central Command, U.S Africa Command, and U.S. European Command areas of responsibility. • Task Force 52 (CBRNE), positioned in the eastern United States, is aligned with XVIII Airborne Corps in support of its global response force mission. Formation and Employment For training, regionally aligned, multifunctional CBRNE task forces ensure the development of habitual team fa- miliarity with supported forces and an understanding of likely deployed areas of operation. These task forces serve as a starting point for scaling and tailoring organizations across a range of contingency mission sets (Figures 1 and 2, pages 11 and 12) and may be further enabled with CCEs, nuclear disablement teams (NDTs), and mobile expedition- ary laboratories. CTC Rotations During fscal years 2014 and 2015, the 20th CBRNE Command has planned and executed nine CBRNE battalion task force rotations at the National Training Center, Fort Irwin, California, and the Joint Readiness Training Center,