Military Review English Edition November-December 2014 | Page 54

missions. Each of these teams is a highly specialized,
extremely low-density asset. Conventional forces
should seek opportunities to train with these specialty
forces to understand their capabilities, limitations, and
operational requirements. Training ensures familiarity with these forces as well as their unique support
requirements.
Conventional forces must be trained on the basics
of target recognition and facility familiarization.
Teaching soldiers to recognize a gas hexafluoride
container, or to identify and report the J-hooks indicating glass-lined reactor vessels in a chemical plant,
or to know the difference between reactor vessels and
fermenters in a biological plant, pays dividends in
reducing the time spent on the objective doing initial
assessment.
In addition, there is a survivability benefit to
training. Most of the material in a WMD production
or storage site is sensitive or physically unstable. This
requires caution in handling and the implementation
of fire control measures to prevent collateral damage
from a potential firefight. Training to control weapons
effects around the exterior and within the interior
of a nerve agent plant, for example, can make the
difference between success and catastrophic failure.
Likewise, a door built like a bank vault cannot be
breached like a bank vault. In a biological weapons
plant or a nuclear materials storage area, the big door
is there to keep hazardous materials inside.
It is imperative commanders understand that it
takes a combination of time, education, and training
to achieve proficiency in CWMD operations. At the
time of this writing, numerous organizations throughout the Army and other services, the DOD, the intelligence community, and the interagency community
are aggressively pursuing material and nonmaterial
solutions to the challenges associated with CWMD.
Notwithstanding, one final challenge remains:
synchronization among the different stakeholders.
No single authority in the U.S. government is synchronizing efforts toward established end states.
Consequently, duplication of effort is likely to occur.

Recommendations
Commanders should prepare their units for
CWMD by focusing on a number of high-payoff individual and collective tasks. Individually, the eleven
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Skill Level 1 CBRN defensive tasks listed in Soldier
Training Publication (STP) 21-1 SMCT are the minimum requirements for successfully operating in and
around a WMD site.8
Small-unit collective training should include the
following tactical tasks, found in FM 7-15:
• Conduct Tactical Troop Movements (Army
Tactical Task 1.3), especially within another formation’s area of operations.
• Isolate WMD Sites (Army Tactical Task
6.9.2.3.1).
• Exploit WMD Sites (Army Tactical Task
6.9.2.3.2).
• Conduct CBRN Defense (Army Tactical Task
6.9.3).
• Conduct CBRN Surveillance (Army Tactical
Task 6.9.3.2.1.2), including radiation exposure tasks.
• Perform CBRN Decontamination (Army
Tactical Task 6.9.3.2.3).9
Large-unit collective training should focus on controlling unit radiation exposure. Ideally, a large-unit
collective training event will culminate in a CWMD
situational training exercise or command post exercise specifically tailored to an assigned theater or area
of operations, focused on isolating the objective and
the initial assessment.
Finally, units must deploy with all authorized
CBRN defense equipment, and before deployment,
every soldier should have a current mask fit and
validation.
To overcome the challenges associated with the
lack of synchronization of CWMD efforts, the U.S.
government must establish a holistic program, one
that ties the vast and dispersed members of the
CMWD community into a common campaign plan.
The simplest and least expensive way ahead is
to capitalize on processes that already exist. The
Counter Weapons of Mass Destruction Warfighting
Forum is one such process. Chaired by the Eighth
U.S. Army commanding general, it meets every
quarter, with council of colonel meetings to shape
the agenda during the off months. This forum, or a
comparable one, should be expanded from its present, largely technical discussion, to include members
from across the CWMD community and incorporate material more relevant to warfighters at every
echelon.
November-December 2014  MILITARY REVIEW