DTRA’s Defense Nuclear Weapons School hosts NWIRT Course at Warren Air Force Base
By: Melissa Tune, Defense Threat Reduction Agency Public Affairs
FRANCIS E. WARREN AIR FORCE BASE, WY – Instructors and training coordinators from the Defense Nuclear Weapons School (DNWS) of the Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA) conducted Nuclear Weapons Accident/Incident Response Training (NWIRT) training at Warren Air Force Base, WY September 24-26.
The multi-day course includes presentations from DTRA personnel along with other government agencies including the FBI, DOE, FEMA and DHS on subjects ranging from radiological response to nuclear secure transport. Student from across the United States attended the training to learn individual modules that include a legal overview, a public affairs overview and risk communications.
“This training represents an opportunity for state, local, and tribal responders partnered with military and civil national defense entities to come together and learn the processes of response and recovery of nuclear assets within the national response framework,” said U.S. Marine Corps Chief Warrant Officer Aaron Rager, the DTRA Albuquerque/DNWS, Nuclear Response Officer in Charge (OIC). “It is very important to train with folks you would actually be expected to respond with and these locality tailored training sessions are invaluable for building the team and supporting network.”
NWIRT training is conducted at various installations within the continental United States and overseas throughout the year. This session was held at Warren AFB, which is the home of the 90th Missile Wing (90 MW), assigned to the Twentieth Air Force, Air Force Global Strike Command. It is also the home of Twentieth Air Force, which commands all U.S. Air Force intercontinental ballistic missiles. U.S. Air Force Capt. Victoria Gaines, a class members stationed at Warren AFB said that the course is beneficial in so many way.
“The training is very important for me at this point in my military career,” said Gaines. “This class is the perfect opportunity to work with people from the different agencies now because these are the key players who we will be working with in the event of an incident.”
The DNWS is a unique entity that provides training in nuclear weapons, nuclear and radiological incident command, control and response, as well as chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear and high-yield explosives (CBRNE) modeling for the U.S. Department of Defense.
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Mission: The Defense Threat Reduction Agency enables DoD, the U.S. Government, and internationalpartners to counter and deter weapons of mass destruction and improvised threats networks.