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Below is an excerpt from the May 1998 issue of National Guard. If s part of a periodic series of historically relevant articles from the magazine's 60 years of archives.

With the increasing threat of a chemical, biological or nuclear attack on the United States, the need for a quick, efficient and comprehensive emergency response plan has become the focus of much attention by the Department of Defense (DoD).

As a result, Secretary of Defense William S. Cohen and other DoD leaders established a response plan for attacks against the nation from weapons of mass destruction (WMD). At the cornerstone of that plan is a network of teams comprised of National Guard members who can deploy quickly to emergency areas, assess the situation and advise local authorities.

Each of the 10 rapid assessment and initial detection (RAID) [now civil support] teams will be manned with & full-time Guard personnel already trained in a cross section of skills including reconnaissance, medical support, security, logistics, air liaisons and communications. They will receive training geared toward handling WMD attacks, such as detection of chemical substances, treating radiation-exposed wounded and decontamination of patients.

Each team will be located in one of 10 Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) regions across the country. FEMA regional headquarters are located in Boston, New York, Philadelphia, Atlanta, Chicago, Seattle, San Francisco, Kansas City, Denver and Denton, Texas. However, DoD has not yet detennined where in each region the RAID teams will be located.

Although designated as the first military responder to such attacks, the teams will act in a support role to federal, state and local authorities and report to the incident commander, such as police or fire chief in charge.

Once on the scene, the responding team will assess the overall situation-including evaluation of damage and wounded. They also determine the nature of the attack, be it chemical, biological or nuclear, and the specific agent used. ...

Although the DoD plan encompasses many elements, the tasking, training and equipping of the RAID teams will begin in fiscal year 1999 due to the complexities of the mission. The entire plan will be phased in over five years and should be fully implemented in FY03. DoD has left open the possibility that the RAID teams will expand beyond 10.

Did You Know?

Today, there are 55 National Guard civil support teams-one in every state and territory except California, which has two.

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