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53rd Civil
Support Team
Story by Spc. Elizabeth Gorenc, Indiana National Guard,
Camp
Atterbury
Public Affairs
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Staff Sgt. Aaron
Tinsley and Sgt. Christopher Wray from the 53rd Civil
Support Team test radiation levels Feb. 20 at the
Indianapolis International Airport old international
terminal parking lot during a training exercise simulating
possible biological or radiological contamination of people
and luggage. Photo by Spc. Elizabeth Gorence, Indiana
National Guard, Camp Atterbury Public Affairs.
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National Guard Soldiers,
Airmen, and civilian first responders answered an alert on Feb. 20
concerning possible radiological or biological contamination of
baggage and personnel at the
Indianapolis
International
Airport’s
old international terminal.
The alert was a simulation
that represented a scenario in which three passengers and one
airport employee were hospitalized due to difficulty breathing. The
chaos began after a baggage handler heard a jar of an unknown
substance break in one of the bags he was unloading, which was sent
through the conveyer belt into the terminal.
“Exercises like the one today
are very important to ensure that we will be ready and proficient to
complete our mission in a real world experience,” said Maj. William
Stroup, commander of the 53rd Weapons of Mass Destruction Civil
Support Team.
“Our mission is critical so we need to
be trained and prepared to properly assess situations, advise
civilian responders, assist in support and facilitate saving lives.”
Indiana’s
53rd WMD CST is divided into six sections - command and control,
operations, survey and reconnaissance, logistics and administration,
communications, and medical. The unit consists of 22 full-time
members of the Army and Air National Guard.
The team evaluates hazards and offers expert advice and support to
first responders.
Each team member receives
approximately 800-1,200 hours of intense, specialized training from
the Occupational Safety and Health Agency, National
Fire
Academy,
and the Environmental Protection Agency. Each member also maintains
one of 14 different military specialties.
Before entering the target
area, a team of two Soldiers wearing Level A hazardous material
suits, tested a nearby area for radiation and insured its safety
before setting up the staging area and decontamination line.
Once the location was
secured as a safe zone, the rest of the CST arrived at the area and
set up equipment that enabled them to fully accomplish the mission.
After initial equipment
set up, a team-wide briefing was held to discuss any newly gained
information. Another team of Level A HAZMAT-suit clad Soldiers
entered the old terminal building and tested everything for
radiation in order to find and sample the target.
“With practice, we have
been able to exceed the standard,” said Staff Sgt. Aaron Tinsley.
“We are allowed 90 minutes to set up the decontamination line and
become functional. We can complete the task in about 20 minutes.”
Once they found the target
luggage, they sampled the bag and its contents for radiological and
biological substances to be tested in the lab.
The CST possesses
fully-stocked, specialized equipment for hazardous material
detection and personnel decontamination. The unit also has two major
pieces of equipment: a mobile analytical lab, which allows the team
to identify and assess particular chemical and biological agents in
the field, and a mobile communications vehicle that allows the team
to coordinate communications among the first responders and all
other areas.
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