262 Receives CBRN Training
Story and Photos by Sgt. Angela Parady
As the United States
continues its efforts to
drawdown the troop
presence in Afghanistan,
National Guard engineering
companies are still being
deployed to help with base
closure operations.
The Maine Army National
Guard is scheduled to
send the 262nd Engineer
Company- horizontal to aid
in such operations later this
year. The company’s primary
mission will be to help close
down the current bases, and
forward observation posts
throughout the country.
In preparation for their
mission, the 262 has begun
to work their way through a
long list of training tasks that
must be completed before
they reach their mobilization
station. During January
drill period, they worked
with members of the 11th
Weapons Mass Destruction-
Civil Support Team, to cover
their Chemical, Biological,
Radiological and Nuclear
Defense training.
Spc. Aric Ramirez, an
engineer from Portland,
deployment. The 262 is
comprised mostly of heavy
equipment operators, who
will deconstruct buildings
and existing structures, and
help remove some of the
footprint American troops
have left after over a decade
you succeeded at a station,
you were considered a
“go” and could move on
to the next. If you missed
“We are conducting CBRN
training, the decontamination
procedures, assembly and
disassembly of our gas
masks and our j-list suits,
and preparation in case of a
CBRN attack,” he said. “The
masks are uncomfortable and
the suits hot and miserable,
but if they do their job, I can
deal with it.”
your errors before you could
be validated for training.
The CST specializes in
HAZMAT operations and
potential WMD threats,
said Staff Sgt. Keith Lilly,
a reconnaissance sergeant
from Dixmont.
“We spend a lot of our
responders to train them on
HAZMAT p