As part of their skills validation, Soldiers from the 392nd Chemical Company from Little Rock, Ark. examine a casualty with equipment that can detect hazardous agents. Their level B protective gear must be worn until the threat of the unknown agent has been determined and removed.
392nd Chemical gets hot for CCMRF mission
By Sgt. Mekonya Cheefus
335th Signal Command (T) Public Affairs Office
From April 6-28, the 392nd Chemical Company, from Little Rock, Ark., endured several days of reconnaissance training in preparation for skills validation by U.S. Army North to support the nationwide Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear and Explosive (CBRNE) Consequence Management Response Force (CMRF) mission. Once validated, they could be called upon by civil authorities to support both natural and manmade disasters. This task is a new challenge for chemical Soldiers.
The mission of the chemical corps was designed primarily for warfare, explained Staff Sgt. Jason Tindle, chemical operations specialist and squad leader with the 392nd, to support and protect the Soldiers in theater. “This is more of a civilian style mission than what we’re used to from the previous chemical corps. However, now the mission has shifted more towards homeland defense with the capabilities of responding to terrorist incidents,” said Tindle.
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| Inside the Holiday Inn in North Little Rock, Ark., reconnaissance team member reconnaissance examines unknown agents. Holiday Inn allowed the 392nd to conduct a full day of validation training at their facility. “Just being able to get into different environments and different structures allows us to test how well we can get in and out of these buildings is probably the best thing about it,” said Sgt. Mariya Wakem, chemical operations specialist and acting liaison officer for the reconnaissance mission. |
If alerted, the 392nd can be on the scene of an incident within 72-hours to report to the Incident Commander, ARNORTH, who is over the entire scene and all civil responders. The commander works with the liaison officer and reconnaissance noncommissioned officer to identify the threat and determine if his requirements can be met.
A three-man team is sent to the site of the incident for a site characterization which determines what is at the site and the threat is poses explained Staff Sgt. Timothy Liles, reconnaissance platoon sergeant with the 392nd. The data is then presented to the incident commander.
“If he wants a sample of hazmat materials or presumptive analysis utilizing the chemical equipment we have, we can get that. Samples are evaluated by the Science NCO to further evaluate materials so that way we’re not sending someone down in an M-40 mask when they need to go down in an SCBA [self contained breathing apparatus],” said Liles.
The level of protection the team wears depends on the threat. If the threat is undetermined, a level A or fully encapsulated suit with SCBA is worn. The level of protective equipment can not be downgraded until the threat is reduced or deemed not present.
The breathing apparatus allows for a limited amount of time each team can spend downrange. Each team has about an hour due to the amount of air in the breathing apparatus. The amount of heat generated in the suit and the loss of full movement plays a part as well.
“It’s like being in the gates of hell,” said Spc. Jordan Davis, chemical operations specialist and ‘dirty man’ on the initial entry team. He lost two pounds of water weight during the one hour and 17 minutes he spent in full protective gear.
As a safety measure, each team must spend at least the same amount of time out of the suit as they spent in before gearing up again.
To enhance training, ARNORTH arranged for validation outside the limited space of the Reserve center and arranged for testing in realistic environment. “Events” were set up at various places in the Little Rock area such as the Holiday Inn, the State Fair Grounds, the War Memorial Stadium, and Camp Robinson-the Arkansas National Guard headquarters.
“It’s good training. Just being able to get into different environments and different structures allows us to test how well we can get in and out of these buildings is probably the best thing about it…we know what the motor pool or the drill hall looks like,” said Sgt. Mariya Wakem, chemical operations specialist and acting liaison officer for the reconnaissance mission.
Once the validation is complete, ARNORTH will determine whether they are they are capable of performing a CCMRF mission. A positive outcome may increase the possibility of the 392nd taking over the CCMRF mission, said Tindle.
“The hallmark of this unit is that they have really professional and seasoned NCOs and it shows in the performance of the unit,” said John Branum, Division Chief of the ARNORTH team from Fort Sam Houston, Texas, “
