New Army Doctrine on WMD Civil Support Teams
The U.S. Army has issued a new field manual (pdf) on the use of National Guard units known as “civil support teams” (CST) to respond to domestic terrorist or other incidents involving weapons of mass destruction.
“The mission of the WMD-CST is to support civil authorities at domestic CBRNE [chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear, and high-yield explosive] incident sites by identifying CBRNE agents and substances, assessing current and projected consequences, advising on response measures, and assisting with appropriate requests for additional support.”
The new manual describes the origins, capabilities, organization, and operations of the civil support teams. The Army approved the document for public release.
See “Weapons of Mass Destruction – Civil Support Team Operations,” U.S. Army Field Manual FM 3-11.22, December 10, 2007.
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