Watching Our Backs at Home

While it’s well known that U.S. forces in Iraq are comprised largely of National Guard (NG) troops usually responsible for securing the peace at home, not all NG units have been deployed overseas. Highly specialized units called civil support teams (CST) for weapons of mass destruction (WMD) were authorized to form as long ago as 1996 by then-President Bill Clinton in response to the expanding incidences of terrorism here and abroad. The first 10 were certified for each of the Federal Emergency Management Agency regions in 1999, and a year later, the states were authorized to deploy additional teams through the Army National Guard and the Air National Guard. Final operational certification for these teams is still underway.

The 13th WMD-CST, Rhode Island National Guard, based at the Coventry Air National Guard Station in Coventry, RI, under commanding officer Lt. Col. Paul Peltier, is one of 55 such teams nationwide. These highly mobile units are military organizations, but operate under the civilian National Incident Management System (NIMS) in support of the first responding community; and use techniques employed by civilian emergency crews rather than typical military operations methods. Similarly, they use civilian trucks and vans to mobilize.

“The Guardsmen with the 13th think of themselves like firefighters,” says Sgt. John Cervone, a spokesman from the RI National Guard Public Affairs Office. “They are always ready, but don’t go until the bell goes off.”

The “bell” sounds in the event of an attack or incident involving chemical, biological, radiological agents, nuclear hazards or high-yield explosives (CBRNE). First responders operating under NIMS can request assistance from the WMD-CST, which would deploy under the command of the incident commander (IC).

The team of 22 soldiers and airmen, all of whom are full-time troops, are divided into six sections: command and control, operations, survey and reconnaissance, logistics and administration, communications, and medical. They are equipped with a mobile laboratory capable of identifying and assessing chemical and biological agents in the field, and a sophisticated communications suite capable of coordinating communications among first responders at an incident site with all other organizations, including local, state and federal agencies and military headquarters. Their training prepares them to identify CBRNE substances, assess their potential effects, advise on managing those effects, and do anything else necessary to minimize the impact on the civilian populace deemed appropriate by the IC.

“Other CST units around the country have been involved in anthrax scares, a chemical plant explosion and the illegal dumping of fly poison. In February 2002, a CST unit in Arkansas was called into action when the space shuttle broke apart over Texas, carrying tanks of highly explosive chemicals with it,” says Cervone.

Fifteen months of rigorous unit training is required before operational certification. Members must maintain a high level of individual competence in their military specialties in addition to the 800–1,200 hours required for the team to learn the standards of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), the National Fire Academy and the Environmental Protection Agency, plus undergo team training and coursework provided by the Army Chemical School, the Defense Nuclear Weapons School, the Army Medical Department, the U.S. Army Medical Research Institute for Infectious Diseases, and the Department of Justice’s Center for Domestic Preparedness. Training is overseen by the U.S. First Army, which provides support and training to all Army Reserve, National Guard and, as directed, Homeland Security units east of the Mississippi River, as well as Minnesota.

The 13th WMD-CST is poised to receive its final federal certification next month. The unit will then be authorized to respond to any CBRNE incident that might occur in its jurisdiction. —KR

Operation Safety Web
Online Tools for Communicating in an Emergency, Provided Free of Charge

Stargazer.org, an operation of The Stargazer Foundation, nonprofit developers of technology in the public interest based in Fairfax, VA, has launched a suite of online tools for emergency preparedness and public safety organizations called Operation Safety Web. Intended to serve critical communications needs of first responders, law enforcement, governments, businesses and other groups and organizations in an emergency, these resources are available at no cost.

Using IBM’s advanced Web portal and collaboration technology, hosted in a secure IBM facility, Operation Safety Web provides templates that can be used to augment an existing online communication system or create new, customized Web portals that enable the use of your own logo, text and graphics; instant text messaging; document sharing; access to real-time services, such as news and alerts, and more.

Critical components of the suite are the Joint Information Centers (JIC), private places on the Web that enable rapid sharing and updating of information, easy collaboration and access to critical information resources jointly in one place. Authorized personnel can post and share critical facts, knowledge and data in a secure, access-controlled format, which can then be updated instantaneously and shared by other authorized personnel.

Major public safety agencies, including the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, the Red Cross and the Washington (DC) Metropolitan Area Transit Authority, have used Operation Safety Web to post talking points during emergencies and exercises; create and keep a running log of incidents and responses as they occurred; store crucial information such as transit maps, chemical exposure information and critical links to other online resources; communicate during incidents using the instant messaging system; and more.

For more information, visit www.wps.stargazer.org/wps/portal/jic-demo?. —KR