Airmen suit up for CBRN Challenge

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. Andrea Thacker
  • 23rd Wing Public Affairs
MOODY AIR FORCE BASE, Ga. --  Airmen from the 23rd Civil Engineer Squadron Emergency Management Flight and the 23rd Bioenvironmental Engineering Flight teamed up to exercise their response techniques for chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear threats during the Air Combat Command's CBRN Challenge here April 5-9.

During the week-long challenge, participants were tested and evaluated by a team of contractors from Air Combat Command on Moody's CBRN detection and identification techniques.

"The scenarios test our ability to respond to CBRN incidents on Moody or in the local community," said Capt. Stephanie Harley, Bioenvironmental Engineering Flight commander and CBRN Challenge emergency response team chief.

Throughout the week, Airmen responded to several CBRN scenarios that simulated situations at home station and in a deployed environment while donning protective gear.

"I have to say it is a challenge to accomplish--even basic tasks in a level A suit are hard to do," said Tech. Sgt. Mark Hansen, 23rd CES Readiness and Emergency Management Flight NCO in-charge. "The suit is designed for full encapsulation and the air tank weighs nearly 40 pounds. The more we exercise in the suits, the better we get."

Sergeant Hansen said the challenge keeps the participating flights operating out of the same playbook in effort to maximize their capabilities.

"Since we use a lot of the same equipment, participants become familiar with each other's procedures and it helps to provide a cohesive response in the event of any CBRN or terrorist attack," he said. "Although this is an exercise, it's a blast to participate in."

The challenge used to be a competition between the ACC bases where participants were evaluated by contractors and performance rated on a point scale.

"This is the first time we are not performing on a point scale against other ACC bases," said Captain Harley. "The challenge has morphed into more of a training experience instead of a competition within the command. Now the contractors come to train us and evaluate our performance."

Other bases within other major commands are also participating in a CBRN Challenge and will be evaluated on their response techniques. The team with the best response techniques will represent ACC in the Air Force level CBRN Challenge in 2011.