Photo By Richard Blumenstein | Cpl. Erik J. Cline fills the Marine Corps Air Station Futenma gas chamber with more CS...... read more read more
Subscribe
By Sgt. Ethan E. Rocke
III Marine Expeditionary Force PAO
MARINE CORPS AIR STATION FUTENMA, OKINAWA, Japan -- When irritating smoke begins to clear in the Marine Corps Air Station Futenma gas chamber during annual training, chemical biological radiological and nuclear defense specialists with MWSS-172 burn another CS capsule and make more. Then they herd in the next bunch of Marines.
A trip to the gas chamber is not a training experience most Marines look forward to. The CS gas they are briefly exposed to burns the skin, eyes and throat. Breathing becomes constricted. Coughing and gasping is common. Saliva and mucus producers kick into overdrive. The irritating gas can even cause vomiting sometimes.
Outside the chamber, fresh air has never seemed so precious. Their faces bright red and sweating, eyes slammed shut from the burning, snot mingling with drool, they couldn't be happier that the less than 10-minute ordeal is over. Despite the discomfort, the Marines are better prepared to react to chemical, biological, radiological or nuclear attacks. Best of all, they don't have to go back for another year.
The average Marine spends about 10 minutes in the notorious chamber. But as each group of 8 to 12 passes through, there is a handful of Marines opening and closing the doors to and from the chamber, casually mixing up and burning the CS capsules as if they were nothing more than incense, and then calmly leading every group through the uncomfortable ritual intended to build Marines' confidence in their equipment and enhance their ability to react to CBRN attacks.
They are the chemical biological radiological nuclear defense specialists, and a day at the gas chamber is just another day at the office.
The specialists have the responsibility of annually training and certifying Marines in their units on how to survive a CBRN attack, according to Sgt. Michael B. Atkins, a CBRN defense specialist with Marine Wing Support Squadron 172, Marine Wing Support Group 17, 1st Marine Aircraft Wing.
Atkins and four other specialists with MWSS-172 certified more than 70 of their Marines Nov. 28-29 during the Individual Protective Equipment Exercise on Marine Corps Air Station Futenma.
The squadron's CBRN defense specialists, who learn how to prepare, survive and react to CBRN attacks during a three-month school in Fort Leonard, Wood, Mo., certify the more than 600 Marines in the squadron every year.
Every month, the MWSS-172 specialists teach classes on how to effectively use equipment and respond to various CBRN attacks. Among the training classes are the Individual Survival Measures class and the Mask Confidence exercise, or gas chamber.
During Individual Survival Measures training, CBRN specialists teach Marines how to use equipment such as chemical agent monitors to detect and identify chemical agents, and items to guard themselves from airborne chemical attacks.
Every piece of gear CBRN defense specialists teach Marines how to use they have trained with inside of a gas chamber with a live nerve agent, Atkins said.
"The purpose was to give us confidence in our gear and to project that confidence onto the Marines we instruct," Atkins said.
Annual CBRN training culminates in the gas chamber, where defense specialists instruct service members to perform various tasks while exposed to CS gas, wearing protective gear.
Inside the chamber, Marines follow CBRN specialists' lead as they perform jumping jacks, shake their heads from side to side and break the seals on their masks to allow the gas to come in contact with their faces, Atkins said. While Marines exit the chamber, CBRN specialists remain inside, cooking up more CS gas for the next group.
"We usually have two Marines in the chamber instructing," said Cpl. John T. Ross, a CBRN defense specialist with MWSS-172. "We don't have the fear of the sensation of the gas because we're in the chamber so much. We go through all the exercises with the Marines that are qualifying."
Defense specialists also conduct mission-orientated training, which focuses specifically on individual military occupational specialties, Ross said. "We cater to your MOS," Ross said. "We teach Marines how to do their job in a contaminated environment. For example we teach motor vehicle operators how to properly cover up their doors and windows, how to adjust to the limited visibility of the mask while driving and how to move around in their vehicle without tearing their MOPP gear."
In the event of a CBRN attack, specialists are trained to isolate and decontaminate the area. They also work directly with the command element in deciding an attack's level of danger and what safety level Marines need to take to carry out the mission.
"We have to adjust to our environment," said Atkins. "Our job is to train other Marines to continue their job in a CBRN environment."
| Date Taken: | 12.19.2006 |
| Date Posted: | 12.19.2006 09:20 |
| Story ID: | 8619 |
| Location: | MARINE CORPS AIR STATION FUTENMA, OKINAWA, JP |
| Web Views: | 323 |
| Downloads: | 163 |
This work, The Gas Men, by Sgt Ethan Rocke, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
No keywords found.
