COLUMBUS, Ohio - The U.S. military's premier Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear, Explosives (CBRNE) Command trained Sept. 16 - 20 with nearly 300 personnel from 52 Federal, state, local and private industry partners during "Exercise Toxic Buckeye" in Ohio and West Virginia.

Army civilian employees from the U.S. Army 20th CBRNE Command conducted an accident-response exercise with partners from Battelle, FBI, Environmental Protection Agency, Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), Department of Homeland Security, and the Pennsylvania, Ohio, Maryland and West Virginia National Guard during the full-scale Chemical Incident or Mishap Response and Assistance exercise.

"Exercise Toxic Buckeye" simulated responses to a trio of emergencies, including a U.S. Army helicopter crash, an airplane crash and an accident involving a ground convoy carrying Schedule 1 chemical surety material. The Chemical Weapons Convention Treaty allows state parties, such as the United States, to use Schedule 1 chemicals "for research, medical, pharmaceutical or protective purposes."

Highly trained U.S. Army civilian employees from the CBRNE Analytical and Remediation Activity (CARA) are the designated professionals in the U.S. Department of Defense authorized to transport chemical surety material off military installations.

The CARA also supports remediation of formerly used defense sites and conducts emergency responses - both overseas and stateside - to identify and assess Recovered Chemical Warfare Materiel. CARA is part of the U.S. Army's 20th CBRNE Command.

From 19 bases in 16 states, Soldiers and U.S. Army civilian employees from the 20th CBRNE Command confront and defeat the world's hazards in support of joint, interagency and multinational operations around the world and across the nation.

CARA civilians who escort and transport surety materials are armed and trained to respond to incidents or mishaps. CARA maintains organic airlift capabilities to support missions with U.S. Army civilian pilots who are dual rated to fly both UH-72 helicopters and C-12J2 aircraft.

In addition to responding to the simulated helicopter crash, the exercise included transportation of a laboratory worker with a simulated injury to the Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center.

Dr. Nicholas E. Kman, the medical team manager for FEMA Search and Research Ohio Task Force 1, one of 28 FEMA Urban Search and Rescue teams, said the exercise enabled the different organizations to increase their collective readiness.

"It was pretty realistic. I was impressed with how long people wore full facepieces on a relatively hot day," said Kman. "At the Ohio State University, we had our nurses, doctors and pharmacists all work together to discuss the care of the patient. We talked through our treatment and disposition of the patient."

A graduate of the Ohio State University medical school who completed his residency training in Emergency Medicine at Wake Forrest University, Kman joined Ohio Task Force 1 in 2009 because he wanted to be a physician first responder to disasters.

As a part of Ohio Task Force 1, Kman has deployed for Hurricanes Harvey in 2017, Hurricane Dorian in 2018 and Hurricane Laura in 2020 as well as Hurricane Ida in 2021 and Hurricane Ian in 2022.

Kman said the exercise enabled the interagency partners to forge stronger ties.

"The highlight for me was seeing all the civilian and military resources convening to respond to the incident. It was great to see Columbus Fire Hazmat, Ohio National Guard's 52nd Civil Support Team, U.S. Army and the Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center all participating with Battelle," said Kman. "It is good for these organizations to learn each other's processes prior to an actual event."

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