Photo By 1st Sgt. Jessica Barnett | Master Sgt. George McMahon, acting first sergeant of the 73rd Civil Support Team,...... read more read more
The Kansas National Guard's 73rd Civil Support Team and three Iowa 71st CST members provided support for the Major League Baseball All-Star weekend at the Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City, Mo., July 7 - 10, alongside the Missouri National Guard's 7th Civil Support Team.
Local emergency response authorities asked for the National Guard's unique capabilities when assessing public safety needs for the MLB All-Star game and requested support from the 7th CST. The 7th CST looked to Kansas and Iowa, their partners within their FEMA Region 7, for additional support under a mutual aid agreement.
“We contacted the Kansas CST and the Iowa CST to see if they were interested in supporting this operation and both teams were very excited to go ahead and support whatever we needed,” said 1st. Lt. John Breeden, 7th Civil Support Team, Missouri National Guard. “Each team is taking care of something different and it's really helping by splitting up the workload and not over-tasking any one unit."
The joint team worked directly in support of the Kansas City, Mo., Fire Department and their Hazardous Materials Response Team, as well as other civilian authorities that are providing both safety and security for the events.
"We have paired up with the National Guard, so we have some of our team members working the gates in conjunction with the National Guard members," said Donna Maize, deputy chief of Special Operations, Kansas City Missouri Fire Department. "We use a lot of the same equipment and have the same training as each other so it becomes a seamless operation."
The soldiers and airmen from Kansas provided active monitoring, air monitoring and reconnaissance of domestic biological, radiological and nuclear chemicals at each gate for the MLB All-Star Game events, including the Futures and Legends Celebrity Game July 8, the Homerun Derby July 9 and the All-Star Game July 10. The Incident Command by the 7th CST would have covered anything tactical had an incident occurred, such as providing entry teams and conducting decontamination.
The Iowa hazmat technicians provided assistance as needed.
Civil Support Team Guard members worked alongside a representative from the fire department, an FBI agent, one police department task force officer and one Department of Energy representative. This allowed comprehensive coverage at each gate of everyone coming in and out through use of various radiological and chemical monitoring techniques and equipment.
“At each of the gates we have a radiation detector, where we check the background radiation, which is different at each gate. And then we passively monitor with a radiation detector. We also have radiation pagers and a radiation back pack from the Department of Energy Radiological Assistance Team,” said Lt. Col. Dirk Christian, 73rd CST Commander. “We also have a five-gas multiray gas monitor where we are monitoring the oxygen level, we are monitoring for hydrogen sulfide, carbon monoxide concentrations and lower explosive limits. And if we get any reading there then we know we have something that needs investigating. Not likely, but one of those things that still needs to be passively monitored.”
"This was a great opportunity for us to bring our unique set of skills and capabilities to the All-Star Game," said Christian. "Plus, it gives us an opportunity to work closely with our civilian counterparts and other National Guard civil support teams, as we do during emergency response situations."
The Civil Support Team is a small highly trained National Guard organization that supports local, state and federal agencies responding to attacks that could involve weapons of mass destruction. The Civil Support Team supports civil authorities at a domestic Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear and High Yield Explosive incident site by identifying CBRNE agents/ substances, assessing current and projected consequences, advising on response measures, and assisting with appropriate requests for state support.
“We have had a great working relationship with civil responders,” said Christian. When the public sees the National Guard here, assisting civil authorities, it’s the same thing they are used to seeing when there is a fire, flood or tornado in the heartland.
“I haven’t been to a gate yet that I haven’t been shaking hands as much as I have been checking out the monitoring equipment,” Staff Sgt. Patrick Gordon, survey team chief for the 73rd CST, of Topeka, Kan. “Hugs and taking pictures with peoples’ kids, it feels really good to have the support that we do out here.
| Date Taken: | 07.10.2012 |
| Date Posted: | 07.11.2012 21:47 |
| Story ID: | 91391 |
| Location: | KANSAS CITY, MISSOURI, US |
| Web Views: | 324 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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