Getting gassed: Soldiers learn importance of protective gear

Photo By Sgt. Brian Johnson | Wincing from the pain of CS gas in the air, Sgt. Tara Lee, from Cleveland, struggles to breathe while Sgt. David Sabol, from Cleveland, (masked), June 7. Both Soldiers are members of the 1194th Engineer Company. The 1194th went through the Nuclear Biological Chemical Chamber at the Camp Ravenna Joint Maneuver Training Center in northeast Ohio as part of a training exercise. The 1194th is conducting their two-week annual training at Camp Ravenna through the middle of June. (U.S. Army photo by Spc. Brian Johnson, 1194th Engineer Company)  

RAVENNA TRAINING AND LOGISTICS SITE, OH, UNITED STATES

06.09.2009

Story by Sgt. Brian Johnson 

216th Engineer Battalion

CAMP RAVENNA JOINT MANEUVER TRAINING CENTER, Ohio – During a Soldier’s two week annual training, they get many opportunities for training exercises that they wouldn’t normally get at their home armories.

One of those training exercises that the Soldiers of the Chillicothe based 1194th Engineer Company went through was the Nuclear Biological Chemical (NBC) Chamber June 9 while at the Camp Ravenna Joint Maneuver Training Center in northeast Ohio.

The NBC chamber consists of Soldiers entering an enclosed room with their protective mask on. This allows them to breathe normally. In the air is a mild form of tear gas, CS gas.
Sgt. David Sabol from Cleveland, the 1194th’s NBC noncommissioned officer explains what happens next.

“Soldiers go in and are gung ho and excited,” said Sabol. “While in the chamber Soldiers are required to remove their mask.”

Sabol explained that Soldiers remove their mask so they can experience the CS and the kind of effect that it will have on them.

“As soon as the protective masks come off, their [the Soldiers] attitudes change almost instantly. They generally begin to cough, wheeze and want to run out of the chamber,” said Sabol.

For Sgt. Tara Lee from Cleveland, the NBC chamber was a good but scary experience.

“When I went in, I was so scared … but by the time I was done, I felt good. I feel like it wasn’t that bad,” explained Lee. “The point of going through the NBC chamber is to allow Soldiers to be able to have faith in their mask and equipment,” said Sabol. “They need to know that it could eventually potentially save their life.”

• Date Taken: 06.09.2009
• Date Posted: 04.24.2015 20:32
• Story ID: 161221
• Location: RAVENNA TRAINING AND LOGISTICS SITE, OH, US
• Hometown: CHILLICOTHE, OH, US
• Hometown: CLEVELAND, OH, US