PATRICK AIR FORCE BASE, Florida -- The 22nd Chemical Battalion (Technical Escort) conducted a no-notice emergency deployment readiness exercise here Feb. 15 - 22.
The battalion teamed up with the U.S. Air Force Reserve to deploy to Florida for the week-long exercise.
Soldiers from the technical escort battalion's CBRNE Response Team 1, part of the 25th Chemical Company, participated in the exercise.
The battalion is part of the 48th Chemical Brigade, 20th CBRNE Command (Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear, Explosives). Headquartered on Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland, 20th CBRNE Command is the U.S. Defense Department's only multifunctional formation that combats CBRNE threats around the world.
CBRNE Response Teams, known as CRTs, conduct operations in support of combatant commanders and other government agencies to counter full-spectrum CBRNE threats.
Each CRT is capable of tackling a variety of challenging missions, including initial sampling, limited decontamination, packaging, escorting, detection, munitions assessment, explosive threat mitigation and contaminated sensitive site exploitation.
One of only two technical escort battalions in the U.S. Army, the 22nd Chemical Battalion operates 12 CBRNE Response Teams.
Maj. Vance M. Brunner, the 22nd Chemical Battalion operations officer, said the technical escort battalion conducts quarterly no-notice exercises for its CBRNE Response Teams on prepare to deploy orders.
However, Brunner added, most no-notice exercises end on the tarmac.
Brunner said an affiliation program with the 512th Airlift Control Flight, a reserve Air Force unit from Dover Air Force Base, Delaware, enabled the CRT members to deploy, conduct CBRNE missions and return to their home station.
While at Patrick Air Force Base, the CRT Soldiers conducted additional flights to MacDill Air Force Base and Homestead Air Force Base in Florida.
"The CRT conducted multiple CBRNE missions at each Air Force Base, expertly synchronizing the time allotted on the ground with the time necessary to conduct the missions," said Brunner.
A native of Kailua, Hawaii, who served in Iraq and Afghanistan, Brunner said the successful no-notice exercise demonstrated the operational flexibility of CBRNE Response Teams.
"The emergency deployment readiness exercise is very realistic," said Brunner. "This exercise is very important to ensure we meet our notification timelines."
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