ZEMIANSKE KOSTOL’ANY, Slovakia – Deep in a valley in Slovakia, over eight NATO nations donned their protective gear as they prepared to enter the “hot zone.” U.S. Army Soldiers from the 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault), the 110th Chemical Battalion, and the 53rd Civil Support Team from the Indiana Army National Guard had the unique opportunity to work alongside NATO Allies and partners to sample and identify real live chemical warfare agents under strict safety measures.
Chemical, Biological, Radiological, and Nuclear threats continue to rapidly evolve and shape military operations. Exercises like Toxic Valley 25 are critical to enabling protection capabilities, preserving combat power, and ensuring survivability in contested environments.
Brig. Gen. Chris A. McKinney, Deputy Director of Partnering, Security Cooperation, and Weapons of Mass Destruction United States European Command, spoke on the effects of multinational live agent training at the strategic, operational, and tactical levels during his visit to the CBRN testing and training center used throughout the exercise.
“Toxic Valley brings together so many of our NATO partners in an environment where we’re able to isolate and concentrate on the protection warfighting function to be able to help us achieve some of our objectives,” said McKinney.
Live chemical agent training allows the U.S. Army to prepare and assess for CBRN threats during the phase of competition below armed conflict. Through this training, CBRN units can better inform commanders and staffs on how to integrate chemical defense into operational planning.
McKinney said, “We participate in this with many of our NATO Allies to be able to perfect the techniques to detect chemical, biological, or radiological agents to allow us to continue to deter and if necessary, defeat, and operate in a CBRN contaminated environment.”
Slovakia serves as the one of the few locations across NATO where multinational forces can routinely train with live chemical warfare agents in an open-air environment. The U.S. Army’s partnership with the Slovak Armed Forces is invaluable as leaders and Soldiers train together to better prepare for potential hazards across all phases of operations.
Lt. Col. Casey J. Nunn, commander of the 53rd Civil Support Team, emphasized the importance of this partnership and how the exercise significantly increased readiness for his unit.
“Toxic Valley allows us to work together, speaking a common language under a doctrinal framework to execute tactics, techniques, and procedures for CBRN mitigation, which includes characterization, sampling, and identification of potentially hazardous unknown substances,” said Nunn.
Training with live agents simulates real-world exposure scenarios, preparing U.S. and NATO CBRN response teams to be ready to respond to potential crisis and conduct large-scale combat operations in a CBRN environment. Units built confidence and cohesion through execution of each lane, ultimately improving decision-making under pressure.
“The CBRN center here in Slovakia allows us to execute 70% of our mission essential tasks in a live agent environment. The stress that puts on our team is great for developing our tactics against real world CBRN threats…and it’s unlike any training that we’ve received elsewhere,” said Nunn.
By training alongside NATO partners and Allies in Slovakia, U.S. forces practiced joint rapid response while standardizing detection and decontamination procedures to sustain operations across nations.
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