SCHENECTADY, N.Y. — Highly specialized units from the U.S. military’s premier Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear, Explosives (CBRNE) Command trained for nuclear forensics missions at Exercise Prominent Hunt in Schenectady, New York, Jan. 27-30, 2025.
20th CBRNE Command Soldiers from a Nuclear Disablement Team and a CBRNE Response Team validated their readiness to serve on the National Technical Nuclear Forensics Ground Collection Task Force.
Led by the FBI, the NTNF Ground Collection Task Force gathers and packages samples of radioactive fallout that enable partner agencies to determine the source of the radiation.
In addition to the Nuclear Disablement Teams, the Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland-based 20th CBRNE Command is home to 75 percent of the U.S. Army’s active-duty explosive ordnance disposal technicians and chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear specialists, as well as the 1st Global Field Medical Laboratory, CBRNE Analytical and Remediation Activity and Weapons of Mass Destruction Coordination Teams.
From 19 bases in 16 states, Soldiers and Army civilians from the 20th CBRNE Command deploy to confront and defeat the world’s most dangerous hazards during joint, interagency and multinational operations around the world.
Airmen from the Patrick Space Force Base, Florida-headquartered Air Force Technical Applications Center also participated in the task force during the exercise. Known as AFTAC, the center provides national authorities with technical measurements to monitor nuclear-treaty compliance.
U.S. Army Maj. James C. Sealock, a nuclear exercise planner and the the lead coordinator and senior controller and evaluator for the exercise, said the exercise prepares the units to support the FBI-led task force.
“This exercise contributes to deterring threats by validating the ability to identify perpetrators of such an event,” said Sealock. “Nuclear forensics enables the United States Government to hold fully accountable any state, terrorist group or other non-state actor that supports terrorist efforts to obtain or employ nuclear devices.”
Sealock said teamwork is critical for success during the high stakes mission.
“This is an interagency mission and requires a lot of coordination and cooperation between all members of the task force,” said Sealock. “It demonstrates a capability to deter any potential bad actors, and in the event they are not deterred, assists national command authorities in attributing actions to those responsible by collecting forensic evidence that is processed by appropriate laboratories to provide data that would facilitate those attributions.”
Sealock, who grew up in an Army family, attended Virginia Tech and graduated from North Georgia College and State University with a degree in political science with a focus in terrorism and political violence. He also earned a graduate certificate in nuclear weapons effects, policy, and proliferation from the Air Force Institute of Technology.
Before becoming a nuclear and counter weapons of mass destruction officer, Sealock served as an explosive ordnance disposal officer for 14 years. He deployed to Afghanistan twice and served in South Korea for three years.
Sealock said the highlight of the annual exercise was overcoming the cold and snowy weather in New York to successfully train for the mission designed to protect the homeland and safeguard the American people.
“Prominent Hunt exercises are conducted in a variety of geographic areas, and at different times of the year to test readiness against various conditions, and this one enabled the task force to test against collections in the snow and our Department of Energy partners to process samples intermixed with snow and water,” said Sealock. “These conditions are not ideal, but may be an eventuality in this mission, and are very difficult to recreate in a simulated environment.”
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