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CBIRF Responds to Ricin Scare, Helps Secure Federal Buildings
Submitted by: Marine Corps News
Story Identification Number: 2004211151659
Story by Cpl. Clinton Firstbrook
HEADQUARTERS MARINE CORPS WASHINGTON (Feb. 8, 2004) -- For the first time since the 2001 anthrax attacks, a team of the Marine Corps' Chemical Biological Incident Response Force was called into action Feb. 3.
A 161-member team, headquartered at Indian Head, Md., responded to a call from the capitol police, after a postal worker at the Dirksen Senate Office Building found ricin in a mail sorter Feb. 2.
The ricin, a highly toxic chemical derived from the castor bean, was found in a mailroom in the office of Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn.
"The first time I heard about the incident was when I woke up Tuesday morning," said 1st Lt. Paul Cabellon, CBIRF public affairs officer. "The first thing that popped into my head was that I knew we'd be called in."
The Marines received the word to deploy at their morning formation and within an hour were on the way.
Upon arriving at the site, the team joined capitol police and other authorities and combed through more than 120 55-gallon drums of unopened mail. Meanwhile, other authorities kept workers clear of the south side of the fourth floor of the Dirksen building.
Marines entered the buildings wearing Level B Tyvek protective suits, so if they did find other contaminated sites, they would be safe, said Cabellon.
"As with any incident it was very chaotic and hectic at first," said Maj. Frank Johnston, CBIRF S-3 operations officer.
As the operation progressed, the team found out the strengths of each participating force and integrated them with their own to get things done as fast as possible, Johnston said.
"We were given less than 12 hours to clear out the capitol building," said Johnston. "Every single space - literally hundreds of rooms - had to be looked at. Somehow my Marines defied logic and got the job done. What they did was impossible, but it was their sheer will and tenacity that made it happen."
One of the hardest things to deal with on a mission of this type is the "unknown," said Sgt. Troy Anstine, a nuclear, biological and chemical specialist assigned to CBIRF.
"The worst part was not knowing all the details when we were first told about the situation," Anstine said. "When you're called in to take care of a situation like this, you always think the worst. Luckily this wasn't the case."
No one became ill from the ricin, according to officials.
"Watching Marines work in MOPP gear seemed surreal," said Nick Smith, a Frist spokesman. "But it let you know they were taking care of business."
The CBIRF Marines are accustomed to "taking care of business," thanks to the hundreds of training hours performed each month for this type of event. In fact both CBIRF response teams conduct live mass casualty response exercises each month.
"We had lance corporals taking charge of entire sites and clearing them out days before the police thought we could," said Anstine, a veteran of the 2001 anthrax clean-ups. "Everybody stepped up to the plate and helped out in accomplishing the mission."
And, although this was the first "real" deployment for more than 75 percent of the CBIRF Marines, the training and the leadership of their noncommissioned officers and junior Marines paid off, said Cabellon.
Aside from the capitol building, the CBIRF team also had to search through the Russell and Hart buildings, the Library of Congress, four House offices and the Botanical Gardens administration headquarters. No other contaminated areas were found.
The Russell and Hart buildings reopened Feb. 5, after being closed for three days. The Dirksen building reopened Feb. 9.
CBIRF is a national asset established in April 1996 at the direction of then Commandant of the Marine Corps, General Charles Krulak. The guidance stated the need for a strategic organization to respond to the growing chemical/biological terrorist threat.
True to its charter, the unit has operationally deployed to national events like the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, the presidential inaugurations of 1996 and 2000, papal visits and Y2K celebrations. Additionally, CBIRF and its Mobile Training Teams have deployed overseas for exercises in Jordan, Bahrain, Iceland, Qatar, Kuwait, Italy, France, the Philippines, and Japan.
"We fight a different fight and respond to a different call, said Anstine. "This is what makes CBIRF unique and everyone in it a vital part of a life saving response team."
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