In response to an increase in the threat of potential terrorist attacks in the United States involving WMDs, Congress directed the federal government to enhance its capability to deter, prevent, respond, and recover from terrorist attacks using such weapons. Among the resulting efforts, Congress in fiscal year 1999 approved the development of National Guard WMD CSTs. The CSTs are designed to support civil authorities in the event of a domestic WMD event by identifying WMD agents and substances, assessing current and projected consequences, advising on response measures, and assisting with appropriate requests for additional support. In describing WMD agents, DOD commonly uses the term chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear, and high-yield explosives (CBRNE). Like traditional National Guard units, the CSTs are under the day-to-day control of the governors of their respective states and territories. The CSTs can also be activated for federal service by the President, at which time they would fall under DOD command. Unlike traditional National Guard units, which generally consist of part-time soldiers who conduct regular drills, the CSTs are composed of full-time Army and Air National Guard members. Each 22-person team is divided into six sections: command, operations, communications, administration and logistics, medical/analytical, and survey. The members of the CSTs are trained in their various disciplines and operate sophisticated equipment that helps them accomplish their mission. Table 1 shows examples of some of the tasks associated with each CST section. The CSTs employ military-provided equipment that is common to active duty military units, such as chemical defense equipment and uniforms. They also use a large variety of specialized commercial equipment, such as the protective ensembles worn in the hazard zone and much of the teams’ laboratory equipment. The CSTs employ several vehicles for transporting and supporting the six sections of the team. Among these are two specially constructed vehicles: the Unified Command Suite, which contains a wide range of radio, data, and video communications equipment, and the Analytical Laboratory System, which contains such equipment as a gas chromatograph/mass spectrometer for organic material analysis and a gamma spectrometer for radiological material analysis as well as other laboratory support equipment. Figures 1 and 2 show the Unified Command Suite and the Analytical Laboratory System, respectively. The equipment in the Analytical Laboratory System helps the CSTs conduct a “presumptive identification” of a CBRNE sample. If requested by the incident commander, the CST then transfers a sample to a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention-approved laboratory for confirmation and official identification. NGB is responsible for managing the CST program and is the principal channel of communication between DOD and the adjutant general commanding the National Guard unit in each state. NGB also coordinates with other DOD commands and organizations to support various aspects of the CST program. For example, the joint service Chemical and Biological Defense Program conducts the acquisition process for much of the CST equipment, and the Army’s Maneuver Support Center assists in developing CST doctrine and conducting key CST-specific training. The Secretary of Defense must certify each CST as ready to execute its WMD mission. This certification involves a series of staffing, equipping, and training steps that take from 18 to 24 months. To achieve certification, each CST must complete the following steps: 1. Have the required personnel and equipment resources and be trained to undertake the full mission for which it is organized or designed. For example, at least 85 percent of assigned personnel must have completed all of their CST-specific individual training. 2. Undergo an external evaluation by Army experts according to the CST’s approved mission training plan. 3. Notify its adjutant general that it has completed the above steps, whereupon the adjutant general submits a request for certification to NGB, which then reviews and forwards the request to the Army Staff and to the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Homeland Defense. The Secretary of Defense makes the final determination of approval for CST certification. Although certification is a onetime event, a CST that loses a significant number of key personnel associated with command and control or with medical and assessment capabilities that substantially degrades the team’s ability to conduct its mission must undergo a revalidation process. In addition, each CST undergoes an external evaluation every 18 months, during which Army experts assess each team’s ability to meet specific mission standards associated with all related WMD threats. Both civil and military responders, including the CSTs, conduct WMD response operations in a three-tiered approach based on the National Response Plan and the National Incident Management System. The National Response Plan represents a comprehensive all-hazards approach intended to enhance the ability of the United States to manage domestic incidents. Fire and rescue, law enforcement, and emergency medical personnel constitute the first tier. If the extent of the event exceeds the ability of the first tier to manage the consequences of the situation, the state-level civil and military forces may be activated and deployed as the second tier. If the governor determines that the forces and resources available in the state require additional support, then the governor may request assistance from the President of the United States, constituting the third tier. The CSTs are generally included in the second tier of the response. In addition to preparing to respond to WMD and catastrophic terrorist events in their respective states, the CSTs also adhere to NGB’s Response Management Plan. Under this plan, NGB monitors the readiness status of each certified CST to ensure that at a given time, a designated number of CSTs are always ready to respond to a national need or the need of a state without an available CST. To facilitate planning for such responses, the plan divides the nation into six response sectors, as shown in table 2. Under the Response Management Plan, the CSTs are scheduled on either “bronze,” “silver,” or “gold” status on a rotating basis. At any given time one certified team per response region is in gold status and must be ready to deploy a full CST (personnel and equipment) within 3 hours from its home station to an incident site within its region, should the need arise. At the same time, another certified team per response region is placed in silver status. While this team is in a slightly lower state of readiness it must be prepared to assume gold status in the event the gold team is deployed. The remaining certified teams are in bronze status and are focused more on training, block leave, equipment preparation, and state-directed missions. Bronze teams must, however, be prepared to respond to incidents within their region within 72 hours and to assume silver or gold status within 48 and 96 hours, respectively. Because the CSTs are state-controlled units, the respective governors are the final deployment authority for CST missions and, unless the CSTs are federalized, they remain under the command authority of the governors and state adjutants general. The CSTs generally conduct three types of mission: response, stand-by, and assist. Response missions are deployments in support of requests from local, state, or federal agencies, such as a CST deployment to help civil authorities identify a potentially toxic chemical left by a suspected terrorist. Stand-by missions involve providing CST expertise at special events, such as the national political conventions. Assist missions include a range of CST involvement, including technical assistance, reconnaissance, or assistance with CBRNE vulnerability assessments. For example, CST commanders and team members may provide technical assistance by phone to a local incident commander at a hazardous materials scene. Table 3 summarizes deployments of the CSTs for missions other than training exercises. As shown in table 3, CSTs deployed on response missions far less often than on stand-by and assist missions. The table does not show total activity by the CSTs, since the majority of their time is devoted to training in order to maintain individual and team readiness. It also may not reflect all CST deployments to assist in states affected by hurricanes in 2005. Each CST costs approximately $7.7 million to establish, or approximately $424 million to establish all 55 CSTs. This cost estimate includes initial equipment, vehicles, personnel, and training support. Sustaining each CST in these categories costs approximately $3.4 million a year, or $189 million a year to sustain all 55 teams. DOD funds the establishment and sustainment of the CST program and NGB manages most of this funding. These estimates do not include utilities for CST facilities, which are paid by the states via a general calculation of all state facilities requirements and funded through NGB. The estimates also do not include federally funded costs for construction of CST facilities, since these costs vary widely depending on how and where the states decide to station their teams. There are also additional federal costs associated with the CST program that are not associated with the specific teams themselves. For example, approximately $65 million for fiscal year 2006 is associated with the following categories: funding for CST airlift; various CST-unique training courses; equipment replenishment and modifications; maintenance of secure Internet access for CSTs; Unified Command Suite maintenance and support; civilian personnel involved in CST oversight functions; and U.S. Army personnel whose mission is to evaluate, train, and develop doctrine for CSTs. NGB is also in the process of creating additional units meant to follow CSTs in response to WMD events and to be part of larger National Guard response forces. The mission of the 17 currently authorized National Guard CBRNE Enhanced Response Force Packages (CERFP) is to support local, state, and federal agencies managing the consequences of a CBRNE event by providing capabilities to conduct personnel decontamination, emergency medical services, and casualty search and rescue.