Missouri National Guard trains with Oklahoma City bombing responders

Pulaski County Daily News ^ | 10/27/2009 | Matthew J. Wilson/Missouri National Guard Public Affairs

[darrellmaurina]

FORT LEONARD WOOD, Mo. (Oct. 27, 2009) — Teamed with several military organizations, the 7th Weapons of Mass Destruction Civil Support Team from Fort Leonard Wood participated in confined space training on Oct. 20 and 21 as part of Operation Joint Eagle in Camp Gruber, Okla. The exercise was conducted by Response International Group, an organization composed of several of the firefighters who responded to the Oklahoma City bombing. The unit worked with the Illinois National Guard’s Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear and Explosive Enhanced Response Force Package. “Working side by side with the CERFP helped each team understand its roles and capabilities,” said Lt. Col. Raymond White, the unit commander. “It was a good exercise to learn to work as a joint team.” A civil support team’s mission is to assess suspected or known terrorist threats, advise civilian authorities of appropriate responses, and assist local emergency responders in incidents involving weapons of mass destruction and both natural and man-made disasters. The 22-person team, made up of both Army and Air National Guardsmen, must be capable of rolling out an advance group within 90 minutes at all times to investigate potential hazards including mass sickness, mysterious white powders and unidentified contaminations.