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Center for Army Lessons Learned (CALL)

News from the Front

EMERGENCY DEPLOYMENT READINESS 

EXERCISE (EDRE)

366TH CBRN COMPANY

LTC Molly Young

CALL LNO to ARCENT Forward

January 2016
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Introduction and Background

The CENTCOM Theater area of responsibility (AOR) has one forward deployed Chemical, 

Biological, Radiological and Nuclear (CBRN) Company. The 366th CBRN Company (Maneuver 

Support) is located at Camp Arifjan, Kuwait and assigned to ARCENT. The 366th mission is to 

provide CBRNE response capability to sea and air ports of deployment in the CENTCOM AOR; 

including contingency response to the Levant providing hazard intelligence, monitoring, and 

surveillance capability of CBRN agents and Toxic Industrial Chemicals/Materials (TICs/TIMs) 

in support of CENTCOM’s Concept Plans (CONPLANs), and bilateral agreements with 

countries in the AOR. This is an enduring mission, filled with a Maneuver Support (MS)

Chemical Company on an annual rotation.

The 366th CBRN Company (MS) is comprised of two Decontamination (Decon) Platoons, one 

Stryker Reconnaissance (Recon) Platoon, and one Dismounted Reconnaissance Platoon. The 

decontamination platoon is comprised of 19 Soldiers, two M115A1s (HMMWVs), two tank and 

pump units, five M12A1 decon apparatus mounted on five MTVs, and seven M17 decon 

apparatus.

366th CBRN COMPANY – VEHICLE DECONTAMINATION
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The rotational units fall in on the equipment set, which remains in theater. The units do not 

conduct equipment loadout operations as part of their deployment. The units participate in 

extended combat training exercises (ECT) annually. They move their organic equipment 

depending on the locations of the unit relative to the training sites and the type of equipment

needed for the exercise. For instance HMVEEs can be drawn from Army Prepositioned Sets 

(APS) but Biological Integrated Detection Systems (BIDs) cannot. The vehicles will convoy or 

be shipped via commercial carrier depending on the distance between the sites. If they are 

shipped, the unit is responsible for preparing, loading and unloading their vehicles and 

equipment on tractor trailers for shipment. It is not uncommon for units to utilize their Full Time 

Unit Support (FTUS) staff with additional support from Troop Program Unit (TPU) Soldiers to 

accomplish this, due to flexibility required for shipping/arrival dates, and for cost savings. As a 

result the majority of Soldiers have not received additional training on loading vehicles on 

trailers, rail or planes.

The 366th deployed to Kuwait June, 2015. The Soldiers of the 366th have had some experience 

on loading their vehicles on trailers for shipment in the previous years for transport to and from 

their combat support training exercise (CSTX). However, emergency deployment via air lift was 

not identified as a required task prior to their deployment and thus was not trained during ECT

events. The unit focused primarily on convoy operations, believing they would most likely selfdeploy within the theater of operation.

Phase I - Preparation

Once the 366th CBRN Company arrived in Kuwait, they were notified by ARCENT that they 

would need to be prepared to deploy within the CENTCOM AOR on short notice via air lift. The 

company commander quickly identified the need for a deployment exercise. He issued a concept 

of operation to the 3rd Decon Platoon, directing them to be prepared to (BPT) conduct an 

Emergency Deployment on order within 24 hours of notification. The plan was intended to 

exercise the Decon platoon’s ability to successfully conduct emergency deployment via an 

Emergency Deployment Readiness Exercise (EDRE). 

The 3

rd Platoon designated a set of equipment, pre-packed for emergency deployment. They 

conducted regular maintenance on the vehicles and used them in training exercises to ensure they 

were in good working condition. The unit has a predefined A and B bag packing list in which all 

Soldiers in the Platoon are required to have both bags prepped at all times.
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The platoon leader issued a Warning 

Order (WARNO) to the platoon within

hours of receiving the CONOP and then 

set about preparing the Platoon’s

CONOP. He issued the platoon CONOP 

within 24 hours of receiving the 

company’s CONOP.

The Company Commander, 1SG, 3rd

Platoon Leader and Platoon Sergeant

conducted a leader’s recon to Ali Al 

Salem Air Force Base in order to conduct 

a route recon and face-to-face 

coordination with Detachment one, 816th

Air Expeditionary Wing, which is responsible for the air lift. They met with the Air Force and 

the Army Liaisons from the 840th Transportation Brigade assigned to assist in the lift procedures. 

The recon went very well with the Air Force and Army representatives explaining everything 

that would be required and provided the 366th with the packet they would need to complete.

Upon return, the unit started on the air lift package (enclosed) which included the effort of four 

personnel and took 48 hours to complete. The company commander coordinated with the Host 

Nation Office at ASG-KU to approve the movement and coordinate the Kuwaiti security escort 

required for convoys. The host nation approved the final route. The approved route of 

movement was a different route than they had earlier reconnoitered. If time had permitted they 

would have completed a route recon of the final route.

Phase II - Execution

The order to execute was given on Sunday, 22 November 2015 at 0800. The unit prepped 

everything and was ready to Start Point (SP) on Monday, 23 November 2015 at 0600. The 366th 

requested link-up with the security escort at 0600, however the security escorts did not arrive 

until about 0730. For planning purposes, it should be assumed there may be delays while 

awaiting escorts.

Once underway the unit experienced four tire blow outs enroute due to dry rot of the tires. The 

maintenance section indicated that dry rot of the tires is not evident with a visual inspection.The 

unit was able to replace each tire in a timely fashion during the convoy and kept in 

communication with the 816th Air Wing to keep them appraised of the delay. The unit has an 

organic maintenance platoon with a wrecker. Per the unit’s Standard Operating Procedures 

(SOP), the wrecker accompanies all convoys, as they did on this exercise. The unit was able to 

quickly recover and repair all vehicles that experienced blow outs enroute to include the selfrecovery of the wrecker itself.
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Phase III - Approval

Once the convoy arrived at Ali Al Salem, 

the 816th was prepared to receive them. 

Initially they reviewed the packet to ensure 

it was completed accurately and indicated a 

few minor errors which the unit was able to 

correct on the spot. The 816th approved the 

packet and indicated all was good to move 

forward with the movement. Concurrently, 

the 840th Transportation reviewed the 

vehicles and shoring equipment. The 840th

noted that given the weight of the vehicles 

and their loads (tank and pump units will 

ship fully loaded) that normal shipping stapes would not be sufficient, rather chains would be 

required. It was noted that this requirement was not included in any of the instructions the 366th 

had previously received. They recommend it be added. The unit has the appropriate chains and 

will include them in the future. If they had actually been deploying, they would have had to have

them brought up to Ali Al Salem or the U.S. Air Force (USAF) could have provided if they had 

extras. This discrepancy would have caused a delay in departure, but not mission failure.

The unit is required to self-load and shore their equipment on the planes. This was not exercised 

during this event. The USAF unit was busy conducting actual scheduled air lifts daily in support 

of contingency operations and did not have the band width or platforms to provide for this 

portion of the training exercise. However given the risk to mission failure or worse, a 

catastrophic loss due to shifting loads on the cargo planes, it is vital that the unit become 

proficient with this task.

The CONOP provided was for the 3rd Platoon of the 366th CBRN Company to prepare to SP in 

an emergency deployment within 24 hours. The exercise was a success, both the Commander 

and the Platoon Leader feel confident the Decon Platoon is prepared to deploy on short notice. 

In future iterations of this training it should be expanded to include the load portion at the airport 

of debarkation (APOD). 

The success of the deployment and the mission 

once deployed is inextricably dependent on the 

serviceability of the unit’s rolling stock. As it 

is not possible to visually identify wear on the 

tires, alternate means should be identified. Tire 

failures could possibly be identified when 

driving at convoy speeds for an extended 

period of time. While the rapid deployment 

equipment set is regularly maintained and used 

for training and pre-execution checks, they are 

not driven enough to get the tires up to convoy 

road temperatures in the Middle East. 
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Additionally the first time a deployment packet is completed, there is both a learning curve and 

some specific expertise required. Some of the required documentation are: manifest and load 

cards, hazardous materials declarations and convoy clearance. Proper time should be allotted and 

additional coordination is required for the first exercise to ensure the airlift packet is accurately 

prepared. Overall, the EDRE was an extremely valuable exercise that once validated, ensured

theater level CBRN Companies are prepared to deploy on short notice.

Lessons and Best Practices

1. Vehicle Recovery: The Maintenance Section is skilled and fully trained to support 

vehicle recovery operations enroute. The wrecker and maintenance crew should be 

included in all convoy operations.

2. Integrating EDREs into Pre-deployment Training: Emergency Deployment via airlift 

is an essential task for the Maneuver Support CBRN Company. Collective task 55-2-

4810 Perform Aerial Port of Embarkation Activities for Deployment (enclosed) should be 

added to the Maneuver Support Companies required collective training under the Mission 

Essential Task List (METL) task 30-TS-2302 – Conduct Deployment Operations. The 

collective task should be trained prior to the unit entering the ready phase in their Army 

Force Generation (ARFORGEN) cycle.

3. Theater Job Book / SOP for Emergency Deployment: The success of an emergency 

aerial deployment is dependent on an accurate airlift packet. A continuity book should be 

maintained with a completed packet that should be reviewed and revalidated with the 

airlift Departure Airfield Control Group (DACG) on a quarterly basis. 

4. Tire Maintenance: There are various ways to mitigate the tire wear issue:

 Longer road testing at convoy speeds to ensure tire road worthiness can be conducted.

 Replace tires on the designated vehicles more frequently than manufacturer’s 

recommendation due to the lack of regular use and the extreme weather conditions in 

the AO.

 Bring a good supply of spare tires when deploying.

5. Incorporate loading the Plane: The exercise should be expanded to include the unit 

loading their equipment on the planes. The Operational Tempo (OPTEMPO) at the 

APOD may preclude this extended training, in which case, the training audience should 

identify alternate solutions. For instance, the unit could coordinate to allow their Soldiers 

to fall in on an actual deployment and conduct on the job training along with a deploying 

unit. Or similarly, they could do rotations at the APOD where they would acquire 

sufficient hands on training.