Louisiana National Guard Completes Advanced CBRNE Training

The Louisiana National Guard’s Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear, and High-Yield Explosive (CBRNE) Enhanced Response Force Package (CERFP) recently completed an intensive training exercise, culminating in a National Guard Bureau evaluation from 1-7 December at the Guardian Centers in Perry, Georgia.

This joint unit, composed of Louisiana Army and Air National Guard members, is trained to rapidly respond to disaster zones, providing casualty extraction, patient decontamination, and emergency medical care. The exercise involved over 240 service members tackling realistic scenarios, including collapsed structures and low-level radioactive environments.

“This event is absolutely a Super Bowl amongst the CBRNE community,” said Col. Joseph Barnett, commander of the 61st Troop Command and CERFP joint incident commander. “The facility provided us with a real-world environment unlike anything we had available to us in the state, and its successful completion validates that we’re prepared to respond to a real-world disaster.”

Guardian Centers, a  disaster response training facility, enabled participants to engage in hyper-realistic scenarios. Soldiers and Airmen trained in specialized skills, such as high-angle rescue, chemical detection, and mass decontamination. “You can’t replace the training we are getting here,” said Sgt. First Class Lewis Sanders. “It’s brought an element into our training that otherwise the Soldiers would just not get.”

The CERFP is responsible for deploying within six hours to FEMA Region 6, which includes Louisiana and neighboring states. This training also ensured a smooth transition of responsibilities from the 927th Engineering Company to the 239th Military Police Company, which has been preparing for the mission over the past year.

Established in 2010, the LANG CERFP has responded to hurricanes and supported high-profile events, continually refining its readiness to protect lives in the wake of disasters.