20th CBRNE Soldiers conduct joint air training mission

By Walter T. Ham IV, 20th CBRNE Command Public AffairsSeptember 10, 2014

20th CBRNE Soldiers conduct air training mission
(Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL

JOINT BASE LEWIS-MCCHORD, Washington -- The 110th Chemical Battalion (Technical Escort) held a joint air training exercise with the 502nd Military Intelligence Battalion.

Soldiers from the Joint Base Lewis-McChord-based units secured a village and searched for weapons caches during the exercise at the Regensburg Military Operations on Urban Terrain training site.

Lt. Col. Brant Hoskins, commander of the 110th Chemical Battalion (Technical Escort), said the exercise served as the biannual certification for the Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear and Explosives (CBRNE) Response Team from the 3-9th Chemical Company.

"The joint air training exercise focused on bringing together some of the specialized exploitation capabilities of the 502nd MI Battalion and the 110th Chemical Battalion onto a realistic target site," said Hoskins, a native of Albany, Oregon.

Part of the 48th Chemical Brigade and 20th CBRNE Command (Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear, Explosives), the 110th Chemical Brigade regularly trains with U.S. Army, joint, interagency and allied partners.

The 20th CBRNE Command (Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear, Explosives) is the U.S. Army's only formation that combats chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear and explosive threats. Headquartered on Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland, 20th CBRNE serves on 19 posts in 16 states and deploys around the world to counter Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD), eliminate CBRNE threats and defeat Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs).

According to Hoskins, his Soldiers train to maintain proficiency in their life-saving and mission-enabling skills. Hoskins said the certification exercise demonstrated the power of teamwork.

"The most notable outcome was witnessing junior leaders from both organizations develop an understanding of how powerful collaboration can be in gathering the best possible information during an exploitation operation," said Hoskins.

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