Capital Region Soldier and Airmen train in Brazil to secure 2026 soccer tournament

RIO DE JANERIO, Brazil (07/22/2024) — New York National Guard Soldiers and Airmen based at Stratton Air National Guard Base in Scotia spent July 8 to12 in Brazil learning how to secure a major soccer tournament from a chemical, biological or radiological attack.

The members of the 2nd Weapons of Mass Destruction Civil Support Team, or CST for short, specialize in identifying chemical, biological, radiological or nuclear weapons. Their mission here at home is to assist civilian officials in dealing with these types of threats, know as CBRN by the military.

The New York National Guard sent 35 members of the 2nd CST, and its Brooklyn -based counterpart, the 24th CST, to Brazil to learn from the Brazilian Army's1 Batalhao de Defesa Quimica, Biologica, Radiologica e Nuclear. This translates into English as the 1st Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear Defense Battalion.

These Brazilian Soldiers provided support for security missions when Brazil hosted the soccer World Cup in 2014 and the Summer Olympics in 2016.

The exercise simulated a chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear attack during a soccer match at Rio De Janiero's Maracana Stadium. The stadium is home to the Brazilian soccer club Flamengo F.C.

Lt. Col. John Giroux, the commander of the 2nd CST, said this training is relevant because the final matches of the 2026 Soccer World Cup tournament will be held at the New York New Jersey Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey.

The two New York support teams expect to provide support during the event. Both CSTs have troops on call during major events, like the opening of the United Nations General Assembly, or the Watkins Glen International race.

"As we look forward to hosting in the U.S., especially in New York for the World Cup finals in 2026, we will take the lessons, skills and partnership we learned here to ensure our spectators have the safest World Cup possible," Giroux said.

The Brazilians, he said, "have extensive experience in world-level events such as the World Cup and Olympics."

Brazilian Army Lt. Col. Luiz Bifano, the commander of the 1st Battalion, said his Soldiers enjoyed training with the New York National Guard Soldiers.

"The training was a great insight on how to work as a team in a small unit with high skills and a high level of equipment and preparation," Bifano said.

During the week, both units worked together in CBRN tasks, including surveillance, reconnaissance, sampling and decontamination. The training included a simulated attack at the stadium.

Americans and Brazilians taught classes on CBRN skills and equipment and demonstrated how they do their jobs.

Staff Sgt. Raven O'Neil, a member of the 24th CST, helped demonstrate the hasty decontamination. This is the method used to run a small number of people through the decontamination line in case of an attack.

"The Brazilian soldiers are accustomed to running over 200 people through their decon line, so they were eager to learn something new and different, which made it exciting for us to teach," O'Neil said.

"It's been tough overcoming the language barrier, but honestly, it's been easier than I originally thought because a lot of our CBRN training is a universal language that we both speak despite a different uniform," O'Neil said.

The training before the event helped to build a familiarization with each unit's equipment and capabilities, Brazilians and Americans said.

Capt. Salvatore Scannapico, the science and medical officer assigned to the 2nd CST, demonstrated different sampling techniques.

"We really were able to share different tactics and procedure ways to acquire a sample and break down how similar and different the equipment we use in the field," Scannapico said. "We're genuinely building a stronger partnership through learning and those bonds are only going to better help us work with each other in the future."

The New York National Guard has been training with Brazilian Soldiers and Airmen since signing a State Partnership Program agreement with Brazil in 2019.

Under this Department of Defense National Guard Bureau program, Guard Soldiers and Airmen share their skills with, and learn from, military personnel in 106 nations.

New York also has State Partnership Program agreements with the Republic of South Africa and Sweden.

Story by Sgt. 1st Class Jonathan Pietrantoni ( 138th Public Affairs Detachment)

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