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National Guard Assembles WMD Response Task Forces By Marina Malenic WASHINGTON — Ten of 12 regional WMD rapid-response task forces have been assembled and fully trained by the U.S. National Guard, a spokesman for the service said yesterday. The Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear or High-Yield Explosives Enhanced Response Force Packages (CERFP) are assembled from existing National Guard units that have been trained to provide mass casualty, decontamination and medical triage capabilities at a WMD incident site, according to Maj. John Toniolli, a National Guard spokesman (see GSN, March 10). Each team undergoes a training evaluation conducted by the U.S. Army Forces Command to determine readiness, Toniolli said. Ten state units — California, Colorado, Florida, Illinois, Massachusetts, Missouri, New York, Pennsylvania, Texas and West Virginia — have passed their evaluations. Washington and Hawaii are expected to undergo assessments in the next few weeks. The training involves the response to a mock attack using weapons of mass destruction, according to Toniolli. The Florida task force underwent a final training evaluation on Aug. 4 involving an attack simulation in which about 3,000 people were exposed to sarin gas and the radioactive isotope cobalt 60 in a crowded terminal of the Jacksonville International Airport, the National Guard’s state headquarters there announced. The team of nearly 50 airmen was called in to set up a triage and decontamination station in a nearby parking lot, according to Senior Airman Thomas Kielbasa. “The team rolled up to the exercise site and in a flurry of activity under bright floodlights, unloaded their equipment from a tractor-trailer,” Kielbasa said in an Aug. 5 press release. “Within an hour their decontamination site was ready to treat victims,” he added. Last year, the National Guard completed the fielding of 32 WMD Civil Support Teams (CSTs), Toniolli explained. The teams would provide the initial National Guard response to a WMD attack and assist the incident commander by assessing the nature of the incident, providing advice and supplying follow-up support. That support includes the nearest CERFP unit, which would provide personnel based on the nature of the incident, according to Toniolli. Civil Support Teams are made up of full-time National Guard soldiers on call 24 hours a day, while the CERFP units consist of traditional National Guard personnel who would be recalled from their homes or workplaces in order to respond to an incident, he added. The new CERFP units are to serve their entire Federal Emergency Management Agency regions, which could cover several states, according to Toniolli.
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