Here's how you know
 **Official websites use .mil** .mil
 **Secure .mil websites use HTTPS** lock () https://


Skip to main content (Press Enter).
 Toggle navigation
            
            
            
            
            National Guard
                        Always Ready Always There
                    National Guard
            
            Search National Guard:
                        Search
                    Search
                        Search National Guard:
                            Search
    Home

    News
    
        Guard News

    Overseas Operations

    State Partnership Program

    News Features

    RSS Feeds

    Press Releases

    Transcripts

    Features
    
        Features by Year

    Posture Statement

    State Partnership Program

    Special Features

    About the Guard
    
        How We Began

    Air National Guard

    Army National Guard    
    
        DEERS Soldier Journey

    Leader Development Program

    History and Heritage

    I am the Guard

    NGB Official March

    Leadership
    
        CNGB

    VCNGB

    SEA

    DANG

    DARNG

    Joint Staff    
    
        J-1

    J-2

    J-3

    J-4

    J-5

    J-6

    J-7

    J-8

    Personal Staff    
    
        Inspector General

    General Counsel    
    
        Special Victims Counsel

    Public Affairs

    Executive Support Services

    Legislative Liaison

    Special Staff    
    
        Office of the Provost Marshal

    Office of the Joint Surgeon

    Director of Acquisitions

    Small Business Programs

    Chaplain

    Senior Leader Management Office

    Diversity Equity Inclusion

    Comptroller

    Resources    
        National Defense Strategy Implementation Guidance

    Community Engagement

    FOIA

    Fact Sheets

    Helpful Links

    Image Gallery
    
        News Images

    Graphics

    Historical Paintings

    Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion

    Legislative Liaison

    Small Business Programs

    Social Media

    State Websites

    Videos    
    
        Featured Videos

    On Every Front

    2019 Videos

    2020 Videos

    2021 Videos

    Suicide Prevention

    Family Programs

    Environmental

    Trial Defense Service

    Holistic Wellness Challenge

    Contact Us  Home
  News
  Article View
 
 Download
 Details
 Share
 NEWS
 Virgin Island and Florida Civil Support Teams train in interoperability By Sgt. Juanita Philip
                Virgin Islands National Guard
 That was the scenario for Operation Guardian Spear, an inter-operability exercise that tested how both CSTs and the FBI team worked together to protect the citizens on the Virgin Islands throughout the first week of December. "This is a 36-hour straight exercise that tests the response by federal, state, and local resources in the event of an identified incident," said 1st Lt. Marcus Sydney, 23rd CST operations officer. The survey teams were deployed to collect samples, from various points on St. Croix, HOVENSA [Hess Corp. and Petroleos de Venezuela SA], Buck Island, 210th Regional Training Institute and the Henry Rohlsen Airport, which were determined to be viruses, manufactured drugs and biological weapons. "Prior to this the FBI just came in as the incident commander, this time they're building all the labs, they're helping write the exercise, they're engaging us with all the support", said Sgt.  1st Class Anibal Bermudez, first sergeant of the 23rd CST. "They've brought the fake IEDs [improvised explosive devices], bombs and props. They've brought a lot of realism to the exercise. "On the FBI side they test the ability to change over coordinators during the cycle," Bermudez added. According to Bermudez, to assist the CSTs, the FBI brought in a bomb technician as they would in the real world. While the unit conducts evaluations continuously throughout the year in order to maintain competency, this exercise was an assessment on inter-agency communications and inter-operability capacity. "We're more testing how we work with each other," Sydney explained. "It's not an evaluation per se, just an assessment of how we work together." "This is the first time it's being done on such a scale with two CSTs working with the HMRU [FBI *Hazardous* Materials Response Unit ] personnel from the lab and our WMD[Weapons of Mass Destruction] coordinators both on island and Sector III,  Florida,"  he said. "What's going to be done is we're basically going to take our notes to utilize on future real world events. How could we improve on our response? How could we improve on our inter-operability? From there, we could come up with a plan on how we could assist each other when the flag goes up." Weapons of Mass Destruction Civil Support Teams were established to deploy rapidly to assist a local incident commander in determining the nature and extent of an attack or incident, provide expert technical advice on WMD response operations and help identify and support the arrival of follow-on state and federal military response assets. They are joint units and, as such, can consist of both Army National Guard and Air National Guard personnel. The mission of Weapons of Mass Destruction Civil Support Teams is to support local and state authorities at domestic WMD/nuclear, biological, chemical incident sites by identifying agents and substances, assessing current and projected consequences, advising on response measures, and assisting with requests for additional military support.
 SHARE
 PRINT
 
 North Carolina Guard Welcomes New Zambian State Partnership
 By Lt. Col. Ellis Parks,
  Vermont Army Guard Soldiers Attend Brazilian Mountain School
 By Sgt. Denis Nunez,
  Idaho Air Guard Conducts Panther Shadow Exercise
 By Senior Master Sgt. Joshua Allmaras,
  More
 Idaho Air Guard Conducts Panther Shadow Exercise5/3/2024Massachusetts Guard Helps Host Crisis Leadership Seminar5/2/2024Massachusetts Air Guard Airmen Test New Air Combat Tactics5/2/2024 View more Guard News »
 Vermont Army Guard Soldiers Attend Brazilian Mountain School5/3/2024
New York Army Guard Soldiers Heading to North Africa4/30/2024
Pennsylvania National Guard Members Deploy to Africa4/19/2024 View more Overseas Operations News »
 North Carolina Guard Welcomes New Zambian State Partnership5/3/2024

Guard Leaders Stress NCOs Role in State Partnership Program5/3/2024

Enduring Partners 2024 Begins with Thai-US Airmen Exchange5/2/2024 View more State Partnership Program News »
 Back-to-school tools for military families8/11/2015DoD sends blended military retirement proposal to Congress6/16/2015First employment symposium held for National Guard spouses5/11/2015 View more Family Programs News »
 Home
 Site Map
 Privacy & Security Policy
 Link Disclaimer
 Web Policy
 DOD Information Quality
 DOD Open GovernmentFOIA
 No FEAR Act
 Accessibility/Section 508
 Contact Us
 Army Guard Careers
 Air Guard Careers
 USA.gov
                    
Staying Connected
    XYouTubeFlickrFacebookInstagram
                 
                
                

Hosted by Defense Media Activity - WEB.mil