Photo By Maj. Steven Modugno | Soldiers from the 20th Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear, Explosives (CBRNE)...... read more read more
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FRANKTFORT, Ky. – American Soldiers and Airmen trained together with interagency partners and validated their ability to conduct post-blast nuclear forensics missions during Exercise Prominent Hunt in Frankfort, Kentucky, Oct. 16 - 20.
The Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland-based Nuclear Disablement Team 3 and Fort Cavazos, Texas-based CBRNE Response Team 3 from the 68th Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear, Explosives (CBRNE) Company qualified to serve as a part of the National Technical Nuclear Forensics Ground Collection Task Force during the exercise.
The U.S. Air Force Technical Applications Center also qualified to support the task force during the exercise. Nuclear Disablement Team 1 served as observers and controllers during the exercise.
NDT 3 and CRT 3 are both part of the 20th CBRNE Command, the U.S. military’s premier multifunctional CBRNE formation.
American Soldiers and U.S. Army civilians from 20th CBRNE Command deploy from 19 bases in 16 states to take on the world’s most dangerous hazards during joint, interagency and allied operations.
Led by the FBI, the NTNF Ground Collection Task Force gathers and packages samples of radioactive fallout that enable partner agencies to determine the source of the radiation.
The FBI’s Louisville Office served as the lead federal agency during Exercise Prominent Hunt. The Department of Energy also supported the joint and interagency exercise.
“Participating in Prominent Hunt, an exercise facilitated by the interagency National Technical Nuclear Forensics Ground Collection Task Force, provides an opportunity for the Department of Defense and multiple federal agencies to execute a highly technical mission in a training environment,” said Michael Stansbury, Special Agent in Charge, FBI Louisville Field Office. “The FBI values this opportunity to exercise our capabilities alongside our partners in order to ensure effective operational readiness against potential future nuclear threats.”
Held every year, Exercise Prominent Hunt moves to different cities to enable the task force to train for the mission in a variety of different locations.
Maj. C. James Hunter, the operations officer-in-charge and deputy team leader for NDT 3, said Frankfort, about an hour outside of Louisville, Kentucky, was a great venue for the exercise.
Hunter said the Frankfort area had geographic diversity that provided challenges in terrain and population densities useful in stressing systems during the exercise, while adding that it took teamwork to succeed at the high stakes task force mission.
“The level of effort each component committed to the mission was remarkable and a direct contribution to its success,” said Hunter, a native of Virginia Beach, Virginia, and University of Florida graduate who has served in the U.S. Army for 14 years and served in South Korea.
“Having NDTs participate in the exercise provides a rapidly deployable capability that can operate in a field environment and support teams with radiological and nuclear operations support to reduce risk to mission and risk to force,” said Hunter. “Being dynamic, adaptable and prepared were the most important characteristics.”
Maj. Matthew B. Stokley, a U.S. Army Nuclear Medical Services Officer and the health physicist from Nuclear Disablement Team 3, said the highlight of the exercise was the ability to gather all the interagency partners together to discuss shared capabilities.
“A key factor is the ability to function effectively within a multifaceted team,” said Stokley. “You have to know your teams’ strengths and operational gaps while also understanding how to leverage other agency assets to best accomplish the mission.”
“The NDT has a very tight knit group of experts focused on the nuclear problem set in an operational framework,” said Stokley. “This enables the team to quickly establish the objective-oriented command and control needed to execute effectively in the difficult conditions following a nuclear detonation.”
Nuclear Disablement Teams brings one-of-a-kind capabilities to the interagency mission.
The U.S. military’s only Nuclear Disablement Teams — NDT 1 “Manhattan,” NDT 2 “Iron Maiden” and NDT 3 “Vandals” – are all stationed on Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland.
The Nuclear Disablement Teams are the military's uniformed subject matter experts in radiological and nuclear operations on the task force.
NDTs contribute to the nation’s strategic deterrence by staying ready to exploit and disable nuclear and radiological Weapons of Mass Destruction infrastructure and components to deny near-term capability to adversaries. NDTs facilitate follow-on WMD elimination operations.
NDTs include Nuclear and Countering WMD (FA 52) officers, an Explosive Ordnance Disposal officer, a Nuclear Medical Science officer and a Health Physics noncommissioned officer.
“The team health physicist is primarily focused on taking radiological risk and putting it into the operational context of the mission in order to establish effective force health protection solutions and recommendations within the nuclear battlefield,” said Stokley. “We also serve as the team subject matter expert on radiological detection technologies and contamination mitigation practices.”
Stokely, who earned his bachelor’s degree in physics from Valdosta State University and earned his master’s degree in Nuclear Engineering from University of Texas, added that the team health physicist helps to keep the NDT safe during operations.
A native of Waynesboro, Mississippi, who decided to serve his nation for a few years after college, Stokely said he became a health physics professional because it enabled him to use his technical knowledge in physics to support the nation’s warfighters.
“It has been an amazingly rewarding 'few years' that has stretched into a 16-year career so far because of two things,” said Stokely. “First, the Army has provided amazing opportunities with each job being more challenging and rewarding than the last. Second, I have had the pleasure of serving alongside some of the most intelligent, selfless and patriotic people our country has to offer, and for that reason, I enjoy supporting this team any way I am able.”
| Date Taken: | 10.24.2023 |
| Date Posted: | 10.24.2023 15:15 |
| Story ID: | 456440 |
| Location: | FRANKFORT, KENTUCKY, US |
| Hometown: | MERCED, CALIFORNIA, US |
| Hometown: | VIRGINIA BEACH, VIRGINIA, US |
| Hometown: | WAYNESBORO, MISSISSIPPI, US |
| Web Views: | 217 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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