 U.S. Military
In the case of a disastrous incident such as the one described above and the prolonged cleanup operation that would follow, American military forces may have need to call upon their North Atlantic Treaty Organization partners for assistance. To that end, members of the 6th Civil Support Team (CST), out of Camp Mabry, Austin, Texas; the 436th Chemical Company, from Laredo, Texas, and the 72nd CST of Nebraska teamed up with the Army of the Czech Republic's 312th Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear (CBRN) Battalion, based in Liberec, Czech Republic, to familiarize each other with disaster response procedures and equipment. "Our purpose for being here is to exchange tactics, techniques and procedures and a chance to perform combined training between the U.S. Army and the Czech Army," said Lt. Col. Jet M. Hays, 6th CST commander. The 14-day event was designed to enhance the interoperability of personnel and equipment and facilitate increased awareness of both U.S. and Czech forces in Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD) response capabilities. The first week was spent on equipment familiarization. The American troops found the equipment used by the Czech Soldiers for CBRN operations was very similar to their own equipment back home. "Our mission objectives are the same," said Sgt. Adrian F. Torres, chemical operations specialist with the 436th. "The overall setup is basically the same. The differences are slight and mostly equipment related." "Their chemical suits are more designed for liquid agents, not gas," explained Colonel Hays. "Their mobile testing lab is built for more generalized purposes; our lab is very specific to our needs." The second week was spent performing small, individual team CBRN exercises, with the Czech instructors testing their American counterparts on the procedures they had learned. "Their collection process is slightly different from ours," said Sgt. Landen C. Koopman, survey team member, 72nd CST. "They place their specimens into a Teflon container that is then placed inside a plastic bag and sealed with tape. We use lidded, glass jars for all collections except for biological specimens. "We then take parafilm, a stretchy type of plastic tape, and seal the lid from leaks," Sergeant Koopman continued. "Then we place that jar into an overpack container, a hard plastic container lined with paper towels to absorb moisture, and then that goes into a Ziploc bag then into our cooler for transport to the lab." The mobile sample testing laboratory used by the Czech Army is a prototype and has been in use only for the past two years. "Their lab is very impressive," said Staff Sgt. Alfonso G. Garcia, survey team chief with the 6th CST. "Their technology is up to date and the same as ours; their sample preparation is similar, but the overall lab is very ruggedized and outfitted for a field environment. I have never seen a lab set up like that." On the final day of field training, local school children from Libouchec elementary played the victims of a mysterious chemical leak in the school cafeteria. The combined teams went into action extracting the children, transporting them to the decontamination site on Camp Tisa and processing the samples taken from the school. The children were all smiles while the Soldiers tended to their "illnesses" and, after they were given the "all clear," received the treat of a ride around the camp in military vehicles. "Part of training is to create an unpredictable environment," said Lt. Hanus Ort, 3rd NBC Company commander. "The kids added a slightly different element to this exercise. Even though we told the kids what to do, they were still unpredictable. They were very enthusiastic and really enjoyed it." Some of the perceived differences in overall operations may stem from the fact that this exercise was on a slightly smaller scale because of the training environment. "We have not seen their full-blown operation in action," said Capt. Michael A. Torres, 6th CST survey team leader. "Only half of their team is in attendance. We have been making up the other half for training purposes." "They use military-style chemical masks while we use self-contained breathing apparatus where you carry an air tank on your back," said Colonel Hays. "The other thing I have noticed is we deal more in biological hazards due to the fact that we work in more of the emerging diseases and animal illnesses." Each group experienced its own degrees of difficulty, but the lessons learned proved very beneficial. "Their vehicle decontamination station is designed for a lot higher volume than what we do," said Colonel Hays. "It is set up more like a car wash that you drive through whereas ours is more like a fire hose. They can process more vehicles in a shorter period of time. That will be a take-home lesson for me that I will present to my boss for us to look into for the future." Valuable additions to the overall training exercise were medics from the Regional Training Institute out of Camp Mabry. "The makeup of the human body is the same worldwide," said Sgt. Cruz C. Gonzalez, a medic instructor with the RTI. "Their medics' and our medics' roles are interchangeable with the greatest patient care available. Their techniques and methods run parallel with medics in the U.S." The general consensus among all participants seemed to be that it was time well spent. "I thought it was a very good exercise," explained Lieutenant Ort. "The cooperation I saw was awesome, and language did not seem to be a problem at all. We made some mistakes and learned from them. If everyone was picture-perfect, there would be no need for training. We may have different processes and procedures, but our mission is the same." Members of the Czech Army CBRN team will journey to the United States in June to perform the same type of training exercise with a slightly different slant. "Although the Czech CBRN team looks to both the military and civil side of their operations, they are more military focused, while we are more civil focused," said Colonel Hays. "We will take them to civilian training facilities and work with a civilian hazardous materials team." Country exchange training with the Czech Army has been going on for almost a decade and has seen successes enough to justify its continuation for years to come. "Anytime you work with people from another country, you get a new perspective on things, because the differences can be so stark," said Colonel Hays. "You get a different viewpoint on the world and can take that back with you. In Texas, we are very diverse. The people from Laredo will have a different perspective from the people in Dallas or El Paso. Once you understand that someone is just different from you, it is not a bad thing. The experiences you gain from working with cultures different from yours help you deal with life's various shades of gray." At the end of the exercise, as American and Czech alike turned to the sweaty task of cleanup, the smiles and light banter were more in the character of friends and co-workers than strangers newly met. "Despite any differences we may have encountered in equipment, processes or language, they are Army and we are Army," explained Sergeant Torres. "We are brothers in this, and in that way we bond." ADDITIONAL PHOTOS:
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