20th CBRNE Year In Review 2015

Photo By Lt. Col. Ryan Donald | Soldiers from the 28th EOD Company train at Fort Bragg, N.C., Nov. 4.  

ABERDEEN PROVING GROUND, MD, UNITED STATES

12.23.2015

Story by Maj. Ryan Donald 

20th CBRNE Command

ABERDEEN PROVING GROUND, Maryland - Our 11th year was an extremely busy one for the 20th CBRNE Command, and as the year draws to a close, I would like to extend my gratitude to each of you, the Soldiers and civilians of the 20th CBRNE Command for making it a success.

Each of you demonstrated a commitment to the overall mission that spans the globe. Many of you sacrificed valuable time away from your families in support of these critical missions. Command Sgt. Maj. Dunn and I ask a lot of each of you because of our no fail mission. This year we demonstrated the criticality of our mission when we deployed 136 EOD teams to 3 different cities to provide protection for the United Nations General Assembly and the Pope’s visit to the U.S. We also demonstrated our expertise in combating the outbreak of Ebola in Africa when the 1st Area Medical Lab deployed to fight the initial outbreak, then was followed by the deployment of the 48th CBRN Brigade Headquarters to close out the mission. Our mission over the past year has been a varied one, one which requires extensive planning and cooperation throughout the DoD and our interagency partners. You made significant contributions to the DoD and our allies and partners around the world, demonstrating the tenants of the CBRNE Creed: Courage, Bravery, Readiness, Never quitting, and Exacting Standards.

As you can tell from above, each of you lived the CBRNE Creed during this past year in support of our mission.

Courage: The year started with the 1st Area Medical Laboratory deployed to Liberia, Africa leading six Ebola testing laboratories as the world faced the worst Ebola outbreak in history. 1st AML not only helped bring an end to the Ebola epidemic but also built infrastructure through Ebola Treatment Units, labs and healthcare worker training. Eventually, to replace the 101st Airborne Division, the Army selected the 48th CBRN Brigade headquarters to command the remaining American forces supporting the U.S. effort in Liberia. Your actions confirmed to the DoD’s decision makers and the Army’s senior leaders that a CBRN Brigade can lead a joint task force.

Bravery: Bravery does not need a uniform, our civilians and Soldiers demonstrate that each day deployed around the world in support of the U.S. mission. Our Soldiers have touched almost every continent this year, in August our Soldiers were in South Korea just a few hundred meters from the 38th parallel alongside our South Korean ally where tensions on the Korean peninsula rose to a level not seen in years. The 20th CBRNE Command also supported a number of Humanitarian Mine Action Programs (HMA) in Africa. We worked with our partners there throughout the year to develop their capabilities and build their capacity to handle future missions. And finally in November, we deployed civilians from the CBRNE Analytical and Remediation Activity (CARA) to conduct analytical laboratory operations in Kuwait to support Operation Inherent Resolve. They deployed with both the Light Mobile Expeditionary Laboratory (LMEL) and the Heavy Mobile Expeditionary Laboratory. It is the first deployment of these labs to the CENTCOM AOR.

Ready: We thought this summer was busy when we deployed about a third of our EOD teams to support the UN General Assembly and the Pope visit. We will have a similarly busy with the Republican and Democratic Conventions and the Presidential election. But I know you will be ready, you have proven yourselves always prepared, and I can guarantee you, there is no other better force trained to do the specific mission set assigned to us. In fact, I just want to highlight for everyone in FY15 you completed over 1700 EOD emergency response missions and over 500 VIPPSA missions.

Never Quit: In April our command held the first ever CBRNE Leaders Course marking a milestone for the U.S. Army. This centralized training focuses on readiness and our ability to fight in a CBRNE environment by ensuring our leaders and soldiers can perform as small-unit leaders in a tactical environment. The CBRNE Leaders Course is designed to build adaptable leaders, effective teams, and ensure none of our teammates accept anything but victory on the battlefield.

Exacting Standards: We conducted a number of no notice deployments this summer. One, in particular, where we sent our Nuclear Disablement Team, a CBRN Response Team and EOD Company from Aberdeen Proving Ground to Los Angeles and teamed up with the FBI to conduct a training mission in our national response mission set. In fact, you performed so exceptionally that the Deputy Director of that organization thanked us in personally in a letter for demonstrating an absolute to standard response capability. It is the sacrifice and commitment of each of you that enables us to exceed the standard.

We know now the standard, you set the standard, and you must continue to operate at that level. The nation and our senior leaders expect nothing less from you. I am humbled to serve with each of you; you make me proud every day when I come to work and can represent you to the myriad of senior leaders around the world. I wish each of you in the 20th CBRNE Command a blessed holiday season; look forward to seeing you in 2016 and continued service with you.

• Date Taken: 12.23.2015
• Date Posted: 12.23.2015 21:22
• Story ID: 185300
• Location: ABERDEEN PROVING GROUND, MD, US