File:Out of the belly of the beast (5423592363).jpg

MARTINSBURG, Va., Feb. 6, 2011 – Vehicles and personnel with Marietta, Georgia’s 4th Civil Support Team (CST) are unloaded from a C-5 Galaxy at the West Virginia Air National Guard’s Martinsburg Air Base by Airmen of the 167th Airlift Squadron, 167th Airlift Wing. The CST later traveled to Fort Detrick, Md., to take part in Operation Vigilant Sample III (OVSIII), a week-long bioterrorism response exercise.

OSVIII’s goal is to facilitate a better understanding of the requirements necessary to successfully employ a response to a bioterrorism event in order to collect and identify unknown agents. The lessons learned here help promote the concept of a CST Joint Readiness Training Center, where civil support teams can exercise with their first responder communities, state laboratory response network leadership, and FBI weapons of mass destruction coordinators.

Working alongside local first responders were WMD coordinators from the FBI’s Atlanta Office and the Cobb County Sheriff’s Office, and Fire and Police Departments. The 4th CST will demonstrate integration into the Incident Command System, exercise its sampling operations, and assess the CST Survey Special Text and ASTM Standard E2458-10. The team will also demonstrate CST analytical capabilities and conduct joint operations with Cobb County fire and emergency services.