Secondary team trained up

Photo By Sgt. Maj. Andrew Porch | Spc. Adela Murphy, health care specialist, Company C, 204th Brigade Support Battalion, 2nd Armored Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, sprays a vehicle down during decontamination training on Camp Buehring, Kuwait, March 12, 2013. Murphy, a native of Katy, Texas, learned the proper way to spray a vehicle from top to bottom while avoiding getting her fellow soldiers wet during the decontamination training. (U.S. Army photo by Staff Sgt. Andrew Porch, 2nd ABCT PAO, 4th Inf. Div.)  

CAMP BUEHRING, KUWAIT

03.12.2014

Story by Staff Sgt. Andrew Porch 

2nd Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division

CAMP BUEHRING, Kuwait – As temperatures start to rise in the Middle East, soldiers are beginning to train with water, but no one is cooling down as Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear training is the focus for the 204th Brigade Support Battalion, 2nd Armored Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division.

Soldiers of 2nd Special Troops Battalion, 2nd ABCT certified “Roughrider” soldiers in the areas of operational decontamination and chemical gear exchange on Camp Buehring, Kuwait, March 12.

“The main focus is to bring some type of positive informational awareness about CBRN to the units,” said Staff Sgt. Joshua Thorton, an instructor and the battalion CBRN noncommissioned officer-in-charge, 204th BSB. “Being the CBRN representative for company and battalion level, you have to make training relevant and you have to make people aware of the type of threats that are out there.”

With the oversight of 2nd STB, the support battalion’s soldiers received two days of training to ensure they were capable of conducting organized decon in case the primary team is unavailable.

“I wanted to give the 204th CBRN representatives as well as their decon team members an overview and an outlook on operational decon because we would be the secondary asset to perform decon for the brigade,” said Thornton, a native of Crestview, Fla.

Most of the soldiers who participated in the training haven’t touched CBRN equipment since basic training.

“It is something that is different,” said Pfc. Rebecca Curlee, a native of Eagle River, Alaska, and a health care specialist assigned to Company C, 204th BSB. “It is something that we are not used to and it is out of out comfort zone.”

Senior CRBN leadership identified a few things that the soldiers must take away from the training.

“They emphasized don’t contaminate each other,” said Curlee. “They are making sure we use the correct procedures and methods. They are really making sure everyone does it the right way.”

And what did Thornton think the soldiers focused on during the training?

“I think they took away what their priorities are in the event we come under some type of chemical contamination,” said Thornton. “They took away what their duties and responsibilities are, as far as setting up and running an operational decon lane.

As the two-day instruction neared an end, leaders knew the training conducted was important.

“I feel grateful for the fact that the brigade is emphasizing CBRN skills,” said Sfc. Patrick Fanning, senior brigade CBRN NCO. “Sometimes it gets lost in all of our other priorities, but I feel pretty happy that we got this opportunity.”

As the training came to an end, the instructors felt positive in the abilities of the newly certified decon team.

”I would say they have grown tremendously over the last two days,” said Thornton. “I feel like their level of confidence in the CBRN program at the unit level has grown.

• Date Taken: 03.12.2014
• Date Posted: 03.14.2014 10:39
• Story ID: 122003
• Location: CAMP BUEHRING, KW
• Hometown: COLORADO SPRINGS, CO, US
• Hometown: CRESTVIEW, FL, US
• Hometown: EAGLE RIVER, AK, US
• Hometown: FORT CARSON, CO, US
• Hometown: KATY, TX, US