File:National Guard aids federal marshals in training exercise (5436612235).jpg

FREDRICK, Md., Feb. 8, 2011 – As day four of Operation Vigilant Sample III gets underway at Fort Detrick, Marietta’s 4th Civil Support Team (CST) offers up its expertise in decontamination procedures to U.S. marshals who kicked off today’s unscripted training scenario by raiding “two homes occupied by a suspected hate group. Discovered by the marshals’ SWAT Team, the group was allegedly processing suspicious substances like anthrax in a homemade lab, and bomb-making materials were also allegedly found,” according to the training scenario.

After taking members of the group – played by Marines from the Fredrick Marine Corps Reserve Center – into custody, the marshals decided not to risk possible contamination of anyone besides themselves or their prisoners outside the crime scene. Staff Sgt. Steve Phoenix, the CST’s decontamination section supervisor, coordinated with HAZMAT technicians from Howard County, Md., Fire and Rescue, to set up the “DECON” line that the SWAT team and their prisoners would have to process through to make sure they were contaminate free.

“It may be training, but no one walks away ‘unwashed,’” Phoenix said while watching the marshals. “Even as cold as it is today [about 20 degrees at the time], they need to know what they’ll face when suspected contaminates of any kind may be present.”

Pictured here, Phoenix (front), accepts weapons from a U.S. marshal being directed to the decon line by a Howard County HAZMAT technician.

Though, in a real scenario, they would take their weapons into the decon line, they did not do so with their training weapons. Phoenix collected these on a table near the Howard County HAZMAT truck as each marshal stepped into the truck’s wash-down area.

“While we’re making this as real as we possibly can, we’ll not get these ‘special pieces of equipment’ wet,” he said. “Getting the marshals and their 'suspects' through the process is enough.”

After the SWAT team finished “washing,” the “prisoners” went through the process as well – all the while under the watchful eyes of “armed” marshals at each end of the decon line. Once through, they were loaded into a waiting vehicle and moved to a “secure facility.” This process completed the training.