Photo By Capt. Molly Treece | Soldiers and Airmen trained for nuclear forensics missions during annual Exercise...... read more read more
Subscribe
DOVER AIR FORCE BASE, Del. – Soldiers and Airmen trained for nuclear forensics missions during annual Exercise Prominent Hunt on Dover Air Force Base, Delaware, Aug. 18 - 22.
U.S. Army 20th Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear, Explosives (CBRNE) Command Soldiers from a Nuclear Disablement Team and a Weapons of Mass Destruction Coordination Team validated their readiness to serve on the National Technical Nuclear Forensics Ground Collection Task Force, which trains to support the investigation of a nuclear denotation.
Led by the FBI, the National Technical Nuclear Forensics Ground Collection Task Force gathers and packages samples of radioactive fallout that enable partner agencies to determine the source of the radiation.
Lt. Col. Ronald C. Kamp, the team chief for Nuclear Disablement Team 3, said for the first time the task force used the Nuclear Disablement Team members to conduct ground collection.
CBRNE Response Team Soldiers previously collected samples while the Nuclear Disablement Teams managed the Tactical Operations Center (TOC).
“We’ve shuffled up the task organization a bit,” said Kamp. “Pivoting away from using CBRNE Response Teams, WMD Coordination Team 2 ran the TOC while the Nuclear Disablement Team ran ground collection. We had the right expertise in the right place,” said Kamp.
“The NDTs bring nuclear expertise and survivable communications capabilities to the fight. The NTNF mission is led by the FBI but 20th CBRNE Command’s Soldiers man the plans, operations, communications and lead the ground collection teams,” said Kamp.
Airmen from the Patrick Space Force Base, Florida-headquartered Air Force Technical Applications Center (AFTAC) also participated in the task force during the exercise.
AFTAC supported the mission with a Technical Event Field Lead – a dedicated scientist that assisted with sample targeting based on plume models. AFTAC provides national authorities with technical measurements to monitor nuclear-treaty compliance.
In addition to the Army and Air Force units involved, the task force is composed of members of Department of Justice’s Federal Bureau of Investigation, Department of Defense and the Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration.
The interagency exercise also involved state and local law enforcement and emergency response services.
The Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland-based 20th CBRNE Command is home to the majority of the active-duty U.S. Army’s Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) technicians and Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear (CBRN) specialists, as well as the 1st Global Field Medical Laboratory, CBRNE Analytical and Remediation Activity, Nuclear Disablement Teams and Weapons of Mass Destruction Coordination Teams.
In addition to serving on the nuclear forensics task force, NDTs directly contribute to the nation’s strategic deterrence by staying ready to exploit, characterize and disable nuclear and radiological infrastructure and components to deny near-term capability to adversaries.
Kamp said cooler weather made the week-long exercise easier for everyone involved.
“The rain, believe it or not, was helpful. Temperatures were relatively cool for mid-August and it is never fun to be in protective gear in the summer heat,” said Kamp. “The added complexity of fallout washing away with the rain made the problem set more interesting.”
Kamp is a native of Allentown, Pennsylvania, who earned his bachelor’s degree in microbiology from University of Pittsburgh and his master’s degree in environmental management from Webster University.
“This is my third Prominent Hunt but my first as the Deputy Task Force Commander. I’m extremely proud of how people from different organizations from across the country came together to get the job done,” said Kamp. “The nuclear response community is small, so each exercise is like a reunion. Our Soldiers, NCOs and officers ran at 110 percent for the entirety of the exercise. I couldn’t be more pleased with how well this exercise went.”
Kamp has served in the U.S. Army for 22 years and deployed to Iraq three times. He was a Chemical Corps officer before becoming a Nuclear and Countering Weapons of Mass Destruction (CWMD) officer.
“The NTNF mission, though different from our core mission set of denying an adversary the benefit of a nuclear enterprise, has many of the same scientists and enablers we would lean on during conflict for support,” said Kamp. “Exercises like Prominent Hunt send a powerful message to would-be adversaries that the United States can rapidly leverage a whole of government response to an improvised nuclear device. We will attribute the device, and the response will be informed by forensic science.”
Alison Goodsell, the Director of the National Nuclear Security Administration’s Office of Nuclear Forensics, said the exercise enables the interagency task force to support national leadership in holding bad actors accountable.
“Exercises like Prominent Hunt demonstrate how our nation’s nuclear responders – whether they be the Army’s 20th CBRNE Command or DOE’s Nuclear Emergency Support Teams (NEST) – help hold potential nuclear terrorists fully accountable,” said Goodsell. “The participation of NEST responders such as the DOE Forensics Operations team, working side-by-side with uniformed personnel, underscores the importance of fusing scientific expertise with operational implementation for preserving our national security.”
| Date Taken: | 08.26.2025 |
| Date Posted: | 08.26.2025 16:35 |
| Story ID: | 546586 |
| Location: | DOVER AIR FORCE BASE, DELAWARE, US |
| Hometown: | ALLENTOWN, PENNSYLVANIA, US |
| Web Views: | 238 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, Task force trains for nuclear forensics mission during Exercise Prominent Hunt in Delaware, by Walter Ham, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
No keywords found.
