MOODY AIR FORCE BASE, Ga. -- The 23rd Civil Engineer Squadron and the 23rd Wing Inspector General office hosted a Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear (CBRN) exercise at Moody Air Force Base, Georgia, August 12, 2024.
While the event did not aim to teach new skills, it concentrated on assessing participants' proficiency in essential tasks such as detecting and documenting chemical agents and performing Mission Oriented Protective Posture swaps.
“This event is extremely important as it validates the Wing’s readiness to prepare for, respond to, and recover from the unexpected,” said Staff Sgt. Barry Donewar, 23rd Civil Engineer Squadron Emergency Manager. “It’s good to make sure everyone is kept up-to-date in the case they find themselves in a CBRN hostile environment. Many of these Airmen will need to use these skills to protect personnel or equipment.”
This one-day event rigorously tested participants, compelling them to recall and apply knowledge from their previous training sessions designed to evaluate their proficiency and reinforce their readiness for real-world applications.
“Something I went through during my younger days as an emergency manager was failure to prepare, and failure to prepare is preparing for failure,” Donewar said. “The participants are able to use an Airmen Manual to help them with these problems and I’ve seen them put it to good use.”
Participants of the event were thrown into a CBRN-simulated situation and given a small run down of what needs to happen, the participants were then expected to complete tasks, using teamwork in order to accomplish the objective efficiently. This event underscored the need for continuous training and the value of prior knowledge in handling potential CBRN scenarios.
“Today was all about using teamwork to succeed during these exercises,” said Master Sgt. Jerome Pereira, 23rd Logistics Readiness Squadron first sergeant and participant in the event. “It was really nice to know that the Airmen are trained and can recognize how to solve issues related to CBRN. If anything happens in the future, I know the team will be able to use these skills and I’ll be there to help them.”
This exercise not only tested but also reinforced the participants' ability to handle real-world challenges, ensuring they remain capable and resilient in any CBRN environment.