BARRIGADA, Guam – The Guam National Guard’s 94th Civil Support Team, together with New Mexico Guard’s 64th Civil Support Team and Andersen Air Force Base’s Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Explosives Response Team, trained Feb. 18 at a clandestine drug lab.
The entry team, composed of one service member from each agency, worked together to detect chemicals, photograph drug-manufacturing equipment and relay information to the command post via radio and live stream.
Lt. Col. Melvin Pilarca, commander of the 94th Civil Support Team, or CST, was at the command post.
“This is a full-scale, all-hazards exercise not only for our unit, but with our partners and first responders in the government of Guam and other military units,” Pilarca said. “It’s just as important that we sharpen our skills as it is to learn to work together across agencies.”
According to Pilarca, the exercise began earlier in the day at the A.B. Won Pat International Airport, where the Guam Customs and Quarantine Agency and Guam Police Department tracked suspicious persons to the lab. The Guam Fire Department, or GFD, hazmat team was then called.
“If GFD sees something that is beyond their capability, that’s when they’ll send a request to activate the CST,” Pilarca said. “We have the specialized training and equipment, such as sensors and protective gear, that allows us to perform the Reconnaissance and Site Characterization mission you’re seeing now.”
Pilarca also thanked the New Mexico National Guard, Andersen Air Force Base’s 36th Civil Engineering Squadron, and GovGuam first responders for what he called “the best level of participation we’ve seen in a while.”
“Chemical and Biological hazards can spread like wildfire, including the drugs being produced in this lab,” Pilarca said. “Exercises like this are important because the better we can work together between agencies, the better we can save lives.”