JOINT BASE CHARLESTON, S.C. –
Twenty-nine Airmen from various units at Joint Base Charleston, S.C., underwent chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear and high-yield explosives training here, Dec. 3, 2014.
The CBRNE refresher course, facilitated by the 628th Civil Engineer Squadron Emergency Management Flight, ensures Airmen are capable of responding and recovering from chemical or conventional attacks - at home station or deployed locations.
After basic military training, the Air Force requires active-duty Airmen to go through CBRNE training every two years.
"In the instance that something happens while I'm deployed, where I'll be required to wear my mission oriented protective gear, I'll know exactly what to do," said training participant Senior Airman Gloria Davis-Phillips, 437th Maintenance Group maintenance data analyst. "The training was very informative and refreshed my memory since the last time I've had this training."
Along with familiarization donning chemical gear, areas of focus included Post-Attack Reconnaissance routes and procedures, identification of chemical agents, decontamination, zone transition points and reporting findings to the unit control center.
"In a PAR route, Airmen are looking for four things," said Airman 1st Class Gregory Emond, 628th CES emergency management apprentice. "We suggest using the acronym DUCC, Damage, Unexploded ordnance, Casualties and Contamination, for Airmen to easily remember what they are looking for during post-attack searches. It's the Airmen's job to go in, locate and identify those four things and relay information to the UCC so appropriate safety measures can be set in place."
According to Emond, the Emergency Management Flight plans to provide a more realistic feel to CBRNE training in the future.
"We plan to include explosives sound simulators and have a mock UCC established using radios," Emond said. "We want to provide Airmen an experience as close to reality as possible, and let them get a feel of how to relay the information they collected."
The Emergency Management flight continues to provide weekly CBRNE training for Airmen coming up for recertification or deployment, teaching Airmen the essential knowledge they may need down range.