Chemical recon folks can detect and identify nuclear radiation and chemical agents, but we found that we did not have a mobile large-area, biological detection and identification capability. That's where BIDS came from. There are plans for four additional Reserve BIDS companies, one in each fiscal year 02 through 05. On the medical side of the house, the Army Reserve has 35 hospitals of various types and 22 forward surgical teams. Taken together, they make for a significant combined capability, Crowther said.
Units have specialized missions, such as engineering, civil affairs, or transportation.
They have public administration people, public works people, they have waterworks people. The Reserve has 97 percent of the Army's civil affairs assets. FEMA asks for capabilities. The exercise is designed for federal and military medical response team members to train for a WMD incident. The Army Reserve, according to its officials, is fully aware both of its responsibilities and its skills.