FALL RIVER, Mass. - A Weapons of Mass Destruction team from the Massachusetts National Guard recently swept a former Soviet naval ship for radioactive material here at the Battle Ship Cove naval ship display.
The 1st Civil Support Team (CST) used the ship to conduct a radioactive material training exercise.
Prior to the exercise, the CST conducted a two-day course about rapid radiological assessments. The purpose of the exercise was to train the team through all stages of an alert with an emphasis on dealing with a radiation hazard and to build upon their previous maritime operations training.
The training mission covered tasks such as establishing a base of operations, maintaining an operations center, installing communications and conducting a hazardous material survey with a focus on radiological material.
"The team is using detection equipment that will be carried and employed on the ship," said Maj. Jason M. Squitier, a CST science officer. "Additional stationary force protection equipment may be utilized, depending upon how the team reacts to the training scenario."
In the training scenario, Battleship Cove receives a vessel donated from the Russian Navy. Once the vessel is docked at the park, the local fire department is asked to perform a sweep of the ship's decks for any chemical and radiological hazards that may have been present from past operations.
During the sweep no chemical hazards were discovered but one of the firefighter's radiation pager alarmed. The firefighters then disembarked the ship and request the assistance of the 1st CST to further characterize and identify the hazard.
"In a situation like this, we would go to the site and survey the area to determine where and what the hazard might be and bring it to the lab," said Sgt. Robyn M. Corbin, a CST Nuclear, Biological and Chemical team member.
"Once the survey phase of the operation begins we are timed and we need to get to the area and begin radiation testing," Corbin said. "All of our equipment is loaded on the trucks and the batteries that we need get recharged while we are moving to the scene."
Capt. Anthony G. Circosta, a CST survey team leader, briefed the team on what to do if they found the ship's generator mechanic, who has gone missing. "If the survey team finds him or anyone else call the decontamination team to remove him and keep surveying the area," he said.
Lt. Col. Margaret White, the CST commander, said, "The mechanic is represented by a 185-pound mannequin that the decontamination team is going to have to remove from the ship."
"It's a difficult thing to do while wearing a chemical protective suit and breathing through a gas mask. Maintaining physical fitness enables Soldiers to perform this kind of challenging mission," said White.
To prevent injuries the team's physician assistant monitors their blood pressure, temperature, pulse and heart rate regularly. "It gives us an idea what their normal ranges are so that if they have an abnormal reading during a mission we can substitute them with another team member," said White.
The chemical protective equipment the team wears provides an appropriate level of protection for a radiological mission but allows them to be able to move in the confined space onboard a ship. The team works in small groups with the U.S. Coast Guard and has increased their maritime operations over the last year.
"It's a difficult environment to work in so to get a feel for it the team is going to sleep on board the ship tonight, said White. "Individual participation strengthens the unit's radiation response skills and refines our maritime operations activities."
The ship that the team trained and slept on is named the Hiddensee, which was originally commissioned by the East German People's Navy as the Rudolf Eglehofer in 1985. It is a Tarantul I class corvette built at the Petrovsky Shipyard located near the Soviet city of St. Petersburg.
The Hiddensee was designed to oppose any naval threat to the East German Coast, and to fulfill that mission it carried long-range anti-ship missiles and an array of defensive weapons designed to ensure its own survivability.
Following the reunification of Germany, the Hiddensee served with the Federal German Navy until her decommissioning in April 1991, according to the ship's Web site. It joined the Battleship Cove fleet on June 14, 1997.