Army Chemical Corps Soldiers train with Navy SEALs during Exercise Trident

By Walter HamDecember 6, 2022

Exercise Trident
U.S. Army Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear (CBRN) specialists from the 45th CBRN Company (Hazardous Response) are honing their lifesaving and mission-enabling skills with U.S. Navy SEALs during Exercise Trident. The company's 2nd Platoon "Black Sheep" provided CBRN planning, site assessment and decontamination for a SEAL team and a 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment (Airborne) MH-47 Chinook. (Photo Credit: U.S. Army photo by 1st Lt. Brandon Crisp and Staff Sgt. Jonathan Day) VIEW ORIGINAL

JOINT BASE LITTLE CREEK-FORT STORY, Va. — U.S. Army Chemical Corps Soldiers are training with U.S. Navy SEALs during Exercise Trident, Nov. 28 – Dec. 16.

Soldiers from the 45th Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear (CBRN) Company (Hazardous Response) are honing their lifesaving and mission-enabling skills with Naval Special Warfare Group 2.

Exercise Trident is a U.S. Special Operations Command-sponsored and Naval Special Operations Command-executed joint maritime certification and validation exercise.

The Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Washington-based 45th CBRN Company “Phoenix” is part of the 110th CBRN Battalion (Technical Escort), 48th Chemical Brigade and 20th Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear, Explosives (CBRNE) Command, the U.S. Department of Defense’s premier all hazards formation.

Soldiers and U.S. Army civilians from 20th CBRNE Command take on the world’s most dangerous hazards in support of joint, interagency and allied operations.

Exercise  Trident
U.S. Army Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear (CBRN) specialists from the 45th CBRN Company (Hazardous Response) are honing their lifesaving and mission-enabling skills with U.S. Navy SEALs during Exercise Trident. The company's 2nd Platoon "Black Sheep" provided CBRN planning, site assessment and decontamination for a SEAL team and a 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment (Airborne) MH-47 Chinook. (Photo Credit: U.S. Army photo by 1st Lt. Brandon Crisp and Staff Sgt. Jonathan Day) VIEW ORIGINAL

U.S. Army Hazardous Response companies conduct CBRN reconnaissance, surveillance and decontamination operations with both conventional and Special Operations forces around the world and also provide support to civil authorities across the nation.

Capt. Shederick F. Mullgrav, the commander of the 45th CBRN Company (Hazardous Response), said Soldiers from the 2nd Platoon “Black Sheep” were selected to participate in Exercise Trident because they excelled during a validation exercise on Fort Hood, Texas, earlier in the year.

Mullgrav said the platoon provided CBRN planning, site assessment and decontamination for a SEAL team and a 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment (Airborne) MH-47 Chinook during Exercise Trident. The CBRN platoon simulated the challenges that a SEAL team could encounter and mitigated the effects to ensure the team can maintain speed, intensity and violence of action.

Exercise Trident
U.S. Army Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear (CBRN) specialists from the 45th CBRN Company (Hazardous Response) are honing their lifesaving and mission-enabling skills with U.S. Navy SEALs during Exercise Trident. The company's 2nd Platoon "Black Sheep" provided CBRN planning, site assessment and decontamination for a SEAL team and a 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment (Airborne) MH-47 Chinook. (Photo Credit: U.S. Army photo by 1st Lt. Brandon Crisp and Staff Sgt. Jonathan Day) VIEW ORIGINAL

“What’s unique about this exercise is the joint environment in which the platoon operated in and the coordination which was required between Navy and Army forces to ensure mission success in a high tempo environment,” said Mullgrav. “Trident 23-2 is a testament to the immense capability of the 45th CBRN Company to be able to operate at a superior level and meet the needs of the Naval Special Warfare Group.”

Mullgrav, 1st Sgt. Brandon L. Trail and Chief Warrant Officer 2 Jose L. Salinas coordinated and planned with many different joint commands in preparation for Exercise Trident.

“The company’s capability to meet the needs of the Special Operations community further hones the proficiency of our CBRN tasks,” said Mullgrav, who is from Riverdale, Georgia, and has deployed to Kuwait, Turkey and Afghanistan during his 10 years in the U.S. Army.