CBRNE Consequence Management Response Force

By Don Manuszewski, ARNORTHSeptember 1, 2009

CBRNE Consequence Management Response Force

What is it'

The CCMRF is the CBRNE (Chemical, Biological, Radiological, and Nuclear and High-Yield Explosives) Consequence Management Response Force. It's a robust federal entry force that is scalable and task-organized to mitigate further loss of life and relieve suffering in response to a CBRNE disaster. It supports local and state requests for assistance as part of a federal response. As of Oct. 1, there will be two CCMRFs (10.1 and 10.2) able to respond to near simultaneous incidents, each with three task forces, Task Force Operations, Task Force Aviation and Task Force Medical. CCMRF 10.1 is comprised of primarily active-component units and 10.2 primarily reserve-component units.

What has the Army done'

U.S. Army North (ARNORTH) works with the Department of the Army, U.S. Northern Command (USNORTHCOM), the National Guard and other agencies to develop, organize and unify the military capability in the land domain for CBRNE response. Periodic CCMRF exercises, like the recently completed Vibrant Response '09 CPX, Fort Leavenworth, Kan., provides opportunities for ARNORTH to exercise its higher headquarters function and the command and control of the CCMRF in an integrated training event. The forces, equipment and experience required to respond to CBRNE incidents are different than those needed to respond to natural disasters. CCMRFs have the expertise to provide support to domestic CBRNE consequence management missions.

What continued efforts does the Army have planned for the future'

The CCMRFs exercise with DoD responders and civilian agencies during deployment readiness and field training exercises (FTX) to become better integrated as part of the federal response. ARNORTH continually works with USNORTHCOM, Joint Task Force-Civil Support and other agencies to develop additional CCMRFs. In November CCMRF 10.1 will conduct a FTX at Muscatatuck Urban Training Center, Indiana.

Why is this important to the Army'

The Army has a long tradition of supporting civil authorities to save lives, reduce suffering and mitigate great property damage while maintaining its primary mission of fighting and winning the nation's wars. Maintaining trained and ready CCMRFs is an ongoing mission. The CCMRF and other USNORTHCOM response forces continually exercise their capabilities and prepare to respond when and if needed. Collaborating with state and federal agencies including Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA)and the Department of Homeland Security ensure a trained and ready response force is available.

Resources:

<a href="http://www.cbrne.army.mil/" target="_blank">CBRNE Web site</a>

<a href="http://www.arnorth.army.mil/" target="_blank">U.S. Army North Web site</a>

<a href="http://www.northcom.mil/" target="_blank">USNORTHCOM Web site</a>

<a href="http://www.jtfcs.northcom.mil/" target="_blank">Joint Task Force Civil Support Web site</a>

<a href="http://www.ng.mil/features/HomelandDefense/cerfp/index.html" target="_blank">National Guard CBRNE Enhanced Response Force Package Web site</a>