Pa. Guard’s 3rd Civil Support Team trains in simulated drug lab

Photo By Sgt. 1st Class Zane Craig | U.S. Army Sgt. Kyle Clark with the Pennsylvania National Guard’s 3rd Weapons of Mass Destruction Civil Support Team undergoes decontamination after investigating potential simulated hazards Feb. 2 at Sysco of Central Pa. in Harrisburg, Pa. The 22 Soldiers of the CST simulated being called upon by civilian authorities to investigate and respond to potential drug production laboratories in preparation for an upcoming external evaluation. (U.S. Army National Guard photo by Sgt. 1st Class Zane Craig)  

HARRISBURG, PA, UNITED STATES

02.06.2023

Story by Sgt. 1st Class Zane Craig 

Joint Force Headquarters - Pennsylvania National Guard

HARRISBURG, Pa. – The Pennsylvania National Guard’s 3rd Weapons of Mass Destruction Civil Support Team trained in preparation for an upcoming external evaluation Feb. 2 here.

The 22 U.S. Army Soldiers of the 3rd CST simulated being called upon by civilian authorities to investigate and respond to potential drug production laboratories.

“Our mission here today is to characterize the hazard, assist the commander in determining what exactly is here, then give him ideas for mitigation to solve the problem,” said U.S. Army Maj. Jacob Derivan, commander of the 3rd WMD-CST.

To characterize the threat, two of the Soldiers donned hazardous material suits and prepared an array of sensors to go into the building and safely go from room to room gathering data and photos. The rest of the CST analyzed the data in specialized mobile trailers or prepared the decontamination area for when the two Soldiers emerged from the building.

“They’re a well-trained, well-disciplined team,” said Ronald Raab, a sciences professor at James Madison University in Virginia who also runs training scenarios for CSTs as a contractor. “I’m always glad to work with the Pa. team. They’re a great group of men and women.”

Raab and his partner, Kevin Richards, set up the simulated drug labs in an unused office building belonging to Sysco based on what they’ve seen in real life, such as; a fentanyl processing lab, a poppy seed opiate extraction set up, one where cough syrup is concentrated to strengthen its effects, a lab to produce LSA which is similar to LSD and can be extracted from morning glory seeds, and a device to extract the THC from a large volume of marijuana and concentrate it.

This training event reflected a partnership among the Pennsylvania National Guard, civilian employers, civilian law enforcement agencies, and academia. Command Sgt. Maj. Corey Heisey with the 228th Transportation Battalion, 213th Regional Support Group, is an employee at Sysco of Central Pennsylvania and arranged for the 3rd CST to use a large warehouse and adjoining parking lot for the exercise.

“I enjoy the fact that I can offer you a place to train,” Heisey said. “At the end of the day yours is a critical task and Sysco of Central Pa. and I are more than happy to support you.”

The 3rd WMD-CST is a 22-person full-time unit where everyone is in the Active Guard Reserve program. All its members are highly trained and on-call, with an advance team that can respond in 90 minutes when called.

“We’ll be able to spin all our wheels as a CST in this exercise, then we’re off and running to our external evaluation next week,” said Derivan.

The Pennsylvania Guard is one of the most deployed National Guards in the nation and headquartered at Fort Indiantown Gap, Pennsylvania. In addition to its federal mission, the Pennsylvania National Guard responds to domestic emergencies, working with its state agency the Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency, FEMA, U.S. Northern Command and dozens of federal, state and local agencies. The Pennsylvania National Guard maintains a joint operations center at Fort Indiantown Gap staffed by Pennsylvania Guard members 24/7 that support its domestic mission.

• Date Taken: 02.06.2023
• Date Posted: 02.07.2023 08:26
• Story ID: 437932
• Location: HARRISBURG, PA, US