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4th CST providing mutual aid

MARTINSBURG, Md., Feb. 7, 2011 – Georgia Army Guard Sgt. 1st Class Nathan Harris (left), information systems analysis for the Marietta-based 4th Civil Support Team (CST), shows Jason Bell, a firefighter-EMT and HAZMAT team member, the tools and information available to hazardous material, fire, law enforcement and medical personnel on the FBI’s “LEO” (Law Enforcement On-line) website.

 

The CST is here to participate in Operation Vigilant Sample III (OSVIII), a weeklong bioterrorism response exercise about to get underway at nearby Fort Detrick. Bell is one of four Cobb County Fire and Emergency Services personnel, led by Fire Capt. Rick Bennett, taking part in OSVIII. Also here are representatives from the Cobb County Police Department and the Cobb County Sheriff’s Office. OSVIII’s goal is to facilitate a better understanding of the requirements necessary for a successful response to a bio-terrorism event in order to collect and identify unknown agents. The lessons learned here also help to promote the concept of a CST Joint Readiness Training Center (CST-JRTC), where civil support teams can practice with their first responder communities, state Laboratory Response Network (LRN) leadership, and FBI weapons of mass destruction (WMD) coordinators.

 

Harris, who lives in Marietta and works full-time with the 4th CST, has been a Georgia Army Guardsman for two years. Before coming to Georgia, he spent four years leading the decontamination section of the Alabama Army Guard’s 46th Civil Support Team.

 

(Photo by Sgt. 1st Class Roy Henry, Public Affairs Office, Georgia Department of Defense)

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Uploaded on February 7, 2011
Taken on February 7, 2011