News Releases for November 2004
November 22, 2004
Contact: Mike Jennens, (701) 333-2195
North Dakota To Get Weapons Of Mass Destruction, Hazmat Accident Civil Support Team
BISMARCK, N.D. - Governor John Hoeven and Adjutant General Michael Haugen announced today that North Dakota will receive a Department of Defense Weapons of Mass Destruction-Civil Support Team (WMD-CST).
The initiative is part of the Defense Department's overall effort to support local, state and federal civil authorities in the event of an incident involving weapons of mass destruction in the United States, or to respond to accidents involving hazardous materials. The Civil Support Team is able to deploy rapidly to assist local first responders in determining the nature of an attack or accident, provide medical and technical advice and pave the way for identification and arrival of follow-on state and federal response assets.
“Our North Dakota National Guard members make very significant contributions to our national defense and having a civil support team in the state will enhance that capability,” Hoeven said. “North Dakota has an emergency preparedness plan, and this additional team will add to our efforts to respond.”
The team will consist of 22 highly skilled, full-time members of the North Dakota Army and Air National Guard who are federally funded, trained and evaluated, but fall under the command and control of the governor. The new team will be equipped with state-of-the-art equipment. The National Guard members chosen for this team will acquire more than 800 hours of training with the National Fire Academy, FEMA, EPA and DOE, beyond their military occupational skill qualification.
“They will be some of our most skilled WMD specialists in the North Dakota National Guard,” Haugen said. “With 24 armories, airfields and training centers across the state, North Dakota is prepared to support a full-time CST unit. In addition, the National Guard has an outstanding working relationship with the highway patrol, county sheriffs and local law enforcement that has been built on years of cooperation.”
The 81st Civil Support Team will be based out of Bismarck, Haugen said. “Logistically, being near the National Guard aviation support facility at the Bismarck airport, our CST team has the ability to transport a lot of equipment and people - anywhere, anytime,” he explained.
The CST is designed to augment local and regional terrorism response capabilities. Team members will respond to events known or suspected to involve weapons of mass destruction, such as chemicals (nerve, blister agents, or sarin, for example), biological (anthrax or Ebola, for example) or radiological agents. The team will use special military and commercial detection and communications equipment.
CST team members will be available 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and will live within a 35-mile radius of Bismarck. Because of the unit's rapid deployment nature, the members will always be packed and ready to go at a moment's notice.
The National Guard will soon start to fill the unit's 22 full-time vacancies and is awaiting specialized vehicles, communication gear and analytical equipment. Certification of the unit is expected to take at least one year after the equipment is received and extensive training requirements for the unit's soldiers are met.
North Dakota is one of 11 states to receive a CST team. Previously, the closest CST team was in the St. Paul, Minn. area.
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