CBRN / HazMat Training Blog

Maintaining combat readiness is a vital requirement for military personnel who are deployed to potentially environments where there is risk of exposure to chemical warfare agents (CWAs) or toxic industrial chemicals (TICs).

The development, production and use of chemical weapons continues to remain a significant global concern, due in no small part to the wide availability of the active substances that are used to create them and the relative ease with which the methods or recipes for CWA production can be obtained and shared online.

Realistic hands-on training is perhaps one of the most proactive steps that can ensure emergency response personnel are equipped to counter the challenges of hazardous materials and CBRN incidents.

The events of the past twelve months however have been quite unlike anything ever experienced before, with the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic placing unprecedented pressure on training budgets and on the way in which programs of instruction are delivered.

According to statistics released by the US Bureau of Labor, more than 2 million workers enter a permit required confined space environment every year for the purposes of routine maintenance, repairs, or inspections.

Regular and rigorous training has a hugely important role to play in ensuring that military personnel acquire the essential knowledge, experience and practical skills that their demanding roles require.

The invisible and intangible nature of many chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear (CBRN) threats however can make them especially challenging to train for, and especially so when it comes to the conducting of effective chemical agent detection.

As major incidents such as the 2018 Novichok nerve agent poisoning in Salisbury have demonstrated, Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear (CBRN) emergencies can push national and international response capabilities to their very limits.

At the same time though, these types of challenging CBRN events can also provide a powerful learning opportunity by highlighting the core skills, resources and training that underpin emergency response.

Maintaining operational readiness in the detection and identification of radiological and nuclear threats is a vital aspect of chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear (CBRN) training, whether for the purposes of CBRN military defense, emergency management or nuclear safety and security.

The schooling is intensive, covering an array of practical, technical and scientific skills including reconnaissance detection, survey training, hazard plotting and the fundamentals of chemistry.

A commitment to ongoing education and training is hugely important in ensuring that military personnel are prepared and equipped for the full spectrum of combat operations that they may encounter.

The U.S. Marine Corps' individual training standards focus on marines' competence in recognizing CBRN-related incidents and in taking the required protective measures to achieve their mission objectives.

As the world continues to grapple with the devastating impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, discussion has inevitably turned to the threat to global military capability, both in the short-term and further down the line.

In the first few weeks of the pandemic, we saw the scaling back, the postponement and the temporary suspension of a number of military operations - including the cancellation of joint exercises, a reduction in provision of basic training and the repositioning of troops into a larger number of smaller bases.

Since 2004, the US National Guard's Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear and Explosive (CBRNe) Enhanced Response Force Package (CERFP) has been an indispensable tool in helping to protect people, property and infrastructure from the effects of hazardous materials incidents.

A crucial strength of the CERFP initiative is the way in which it has enabled the country's existing national guard units to seamlessly integrate with civilian emergency response teams at both federal and local level.

Simulator detector technology offers substantial and tangible benefits across all stages and levels of CBRNe training - whether it is being used to train new operators, to provide more experienced personnel with the opportunity to refresh their skills, or as a way to trial or familiarize with new equipment.

The rise in the popularity of simulation training over the past several decades has been aided in no small part by significant advancements in the technology and processing power that underpins it.