It's Official...

Archren · 10-15-2011, 11:23 AM

My unit (Joint Task Force 71, part of the Texas National Guard) is, as of Thursday, officially the third Homeland Response Force to be certified in the US. HARD work getting there, but we did it.

For those unfamiliar with why we exist... Ultimately our purpose is to support civilian authorities with disasters (natural or man-made, terrorist or otherwise - such as the plane that hit the Echelon building in Austin or the chemical plant fire last week in Waxahachie) until such time that they either get things under control, or federal assets get called in (FEMA). We are the bridge between local response and federal support.

Mostly we deal with CBRNE (chemical/biological/radiological/nuclear/high-yield explosive) incidents - for instance, we are not fitted to deal with a fire itself, but in the case of the chemical plant, we can support casualty extraction, chemical decontamination, and medical triage.

Link to an article about our training and some photos:

http://www.theeagle.com/local/Troops...aster--6714485

10-15-2011, 11:23 AM	#1
Archren Sham WOW Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: ATX Moto: 2007 Ducati 1098 Posts: 2,741	It's Official... My unit (Joint Task Force 71, part of the Texas National Guard) is, as of Thursday, officially the third Homeland Response Force to be certified in the US. HARD work getting there, but we did it. For those unfamiliar with why we exist... Ultimately our purpose is to support civilian authorities with disasters (natural or man-made, terrorist or otherwise - such as the plane that hit the Echelon building in Austin or the chemical plant fire last week in Waxahachie) until such time that they either get things under control, or federal assets get called in (FEMA). We are the bridge between local response and federal support. Mostly we deal with CBRNE (chemical/biological/radiological/nuclear/high-yield explosive) incidents - for instance, we are not fitted to deal with a fire itself, but in the case of the chemical plant, we can support casualty extraction, chemical decontamination, and medical triage. Link to an article about our training and some photos: http://www.theeagle.com/local/Troops...aster--6714485 __________________ Photography "The Vincent was like a bullet that went straight; the Ducati is like the magic bullet that went sideways and hit JFK and the Governor of Texas at the same time. It was impossible." - Hunter S. Thompson, Song of the Sausage Creature "Be who you are and say what you feel because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind." -Dr. Seuss