By Cpl. Jordan Johnson
Third Army/ARCENT Public Affairs
CAMP ARIFJAN, Kuwait -- Servicemembers can often be found firing their weapon at the range, performing physical fitness activities and conducting movement operations, but an often overlooked aspect of war is the threat of a chemical attack.
To raise awareness about chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear contamination and the assets available, Soldiers from the 44th CBRN Co. held a CBRN training academy to offer insight on what the chemical company does here Sept. 15.
"The training focused on giving students from the academy a taste of what we actually do," said Maj. Jason Snelgrove, commander, 44th CBRN Co. and Angleton, Texas native. "The Soldiers will go back to their unit with a little more knowledge, be subject matter experts and let their unit know what capabilities the chemical corps can provide."
During this four-day training event students received hazardous response platoon training, conducted decontamination operations, experienced mounted CBRN reconnaissance instructions and experience and participate in a simulated chemical attack.
"We learned the different jobs the chemical company does here to support ARCENT," said Spc. Dartanion Henry, team leader, 330th Movement Control Battalion and Jonesboro, Ark. native. "We will finish up with a training mission involving everything the instructors taught us."
As students learned the jobs performed by the chemical specialists, Snelgrove stated this mission was important because many troops were unfamiliar with the different roles Soldiers in a CBRN unit played.
"My objective was to market the chemical corps and its capabilities, because a lot of people don't know what we do," stated Snelgrove.
Many Soldiers in the chemical field often find themselves assigned to different positions outside of their military occupational specialty, Snelgrove stated.
"Most chemical operations specialists don't get a chance to train or serve in an actual chemical unit," Snelgrove mentioned. "Most are out with the rest of the Army, in combat arms, and are SMEs for those types of units."
Training with a chemical unit gave Soldiers the opportunity to learn about new procedures and equipment, work with servicemembers outside their units and perform in 100 degree heat. Despite all the potential pitfalls, students found the course to be beneficial.
"The training was excellent," said Spc. Gregory Snow, radar mechanic, 1st Battalion, 44th Air Defense Missile Artillery Regiment and Leesburg, Fla. native. "We got to see how a real chemical unit works and we came away with a better idea about how to do their jobs."
"Going through the academy was great training," Henry stated. "I wish they offered more training like this to help us out with our job. We got better insight in case we actually go to a chemical company."
Leaders of the 44th CBRN Co. hopes this training academy would becomes an annual event. With a good turn out and successful training sessions, they are optimistic of future endeavors, Snelgrove said.
"The exercise went very well. It was a smooth operation as far as what we were looking to accomplish," said Snelgrove.
Should a chemical attack take place, Third Army has put its Soldiers in a position to be ready tonight to react to a chemical attack. As the Dec. 31 transition nears and the servicemembers and civilians reposition from Iraq, training exercises such as the CBRN training academy will provide Soldiers with the knowledge to react to any CBRN attack within the U.S. Army Central Command area of operation.
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