Massachusetts Air National Guardsman provides CBRN response training in Wisconsin

  • Published
  • By Master Sgt. Keith Delgado
  • 102nd Bioenvironmental Engineering
VOLK FIELD, Wis. --  Massachusetts Air National Guard Staff Sgt. Andrew Beckford, 102nd Bioenvironmental Engineering, assisted Maj. Scott Steigerwald, Air National Guard Command Bioenvironmental Engineer, and Senior Master Sgt. Dawn Colombi, Air National Guard Bioenvironmental Engineering occupational and environmental health manager, conducting a successful week-long training course for the 976H Medical Counter - Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear (MC-CBRN) equipment response package here, Aug. 19-25, 2012.

The training event, which took place at the Combat Readiness Training Center (CRTC), included CBRN related scenarios with the purpose of instructing bioenvironmental personnel how to identify potential hazards and then logically perform a health risk assessment based on their findings.

"Andrew was instrumental in putting this training together," Maj. Steigerwald said to the group of students.

Sergeant Beckford has been helping Major Steigerwald and Sergeant Colombi with various training programs for the bioenvironmental career field while performing an 'active duty for operational support' (ADOS) tour at Andrews AFB, Md.

In addition to his involvement with developing a sound, operationally-based risk management recommendation for the 976H response equipment, Sergeant Beckford has been working on a detailed training program for newly assigned bioenvironmental engineering technicians.

The 976H bioenvironmental equipment package is one part of an overall Air National Guard approach to responding to a CBRN event for bases not collocated with an active duty installation. Other areas of responsibility include the following 'response packages': Allowance Standard (AS) for In-Place Patient Decontamination (IPPD) (AS 976A), Field Response (AS 976J), Triage (AS 97K), and Public Health (AS 976P).