Courtesy Photo | Maj. Gen. John Basilica, commander of Operational Command Post 1 of U.S. Army North,...... read more read more
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ARLINGTON, Va. — When all other emergency response capabilities are exhausted during a crisis, a chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear high-yield explosive, consequence-management response force (CCMRF) or "C-Smurf" would be called in to assist civil authorities, DoD officials said today.
"It's definitely a serious capability that we are trying to develop in this country," Maj. Gen. John Basilica told participants in the DoD Bloggers Roundtable. "We are making significant progress."
The nation is standing up three CCMRF units, he said. One is currently operational and a second unit is scheduled to be operational this October.
"We are going to develop [them], so that we have the ability to respond to three simultaneous or near simultaneous events," said Basilica.
As the commander of Operational Command Post 1 of U.S. Army North, Basilica leads one of the CCMRFs, and he discussed its makeup, upcoming training and its interaction and role with civilian response authorities during an emergency.
"We are providing more capabilities" to local authorities after a disaster, he said.
To prepare for this role, Basilica said it takes many phases to train on the individual tasks and specialties of a CCMRF.
In their approaching exercise, Vibrant Response, which will be held July 31 through Aug. 9 at Fort Leavenworth, Kan., players will simulate a catastrophic event requiring many different local, state and federal agencies.
The command post exercise, said Basilica, by its nature, will be complex and require all of the different agencies involved in command and control and instructions and plans.
Navy Capt. Michael Collins, chief of staff of Joint Task Force Civil Support, discussed the use of CCMRFs in emergencies. He said they can include a force of up to 5,000 military personnel and their equipment.
The composition of a CCMRF, said Basilica, is fundamentally three large task forces, including: task force operations, which includes specific chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear high yield explosive experts; a task force medical and a task force aviation.
"It a very, very skilled and capable group of people that come from many different services and many different components," he said.
Basilica said it's extremely important to have the opportunity to come together in August and go through a rigorous, robust exercise.
"We are committed to training this force so that if it becomes necessary, we will be as ready as we ever could be."
| Date Taken: | 07.24.2009 |
| Date Posted: | 07.24.2009 16:39 |
| Story ID: | 36791 |
| Location: | ARLINGTON, VA, US |
| Web Views: | 366 |
| Downloads: | 341 |
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