NY National Guard Civil Support Team trains on board USS Slater in Albany

Latham, NY (04/04/2024) — ALBANY, New York--Twenty-one Soldiers and Airmen assigned to the New York National Guard's 2nd Civil Support Team tested their ability to detect weapons of mass destruction aboard the U.S.S Slater on Thursday, March 28.

During the March 28 exercise three teams of two to three personnel used detection equipment to find and mark radioactive material.

Other teams then removed the radioactive material and decontaminated the area.The New York National Guard's two Weapons of Mass Destruction Civil Support Teams, called CSTs staffed by personnel trained to identify and mitigate chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear, and explosive substances.

The 2nd CST is based at Stratton Air National Guard Base in Scotia.

"Each year, the CST finds different training sites to challenge its survey teams, which specialize in detection, identification, and sample collections in contaminated areas, according to Army Lt. Col. John Giroux, the commander of the 2nd CST.

The team tries to search and identify radiation sources in an unfamiliar environment within confined spaces, he explained.

"This year's training consisted of classroom instructions on topics like basic radiation and then culminated with training that focused on radiological concepts before the survey teams tried to search and identify radiation sources," Giroux said.

The hands on training took place aboard the USS Slater, a 306-foot destroyer, that escorted convoys across the Atlantic during World War II. The ship has been docked in the Hudson River in Albany as a museum ship since 1997.

"This unique training site allowed us to test the capabilities and problem-solving skills of our team members who are training at the operational and communication level," Giroux said.

During the destroyer exercise, the team successfully reconfigured communications and equipment and conducted a hazardous assessment around the entire site, Giroux explained.

"We are privileged to receive world-class instruction and coaching from the Department of Energy Radiation Assistance Program and the New York State Police and are especially grateful to the USS Slater staff for their partnership and support, without whom our success today could not have been possible," Giroux said.

"This training was a great opportunity for our team to learn from the subject matter experts while also exercising our capabilities and strengthening our relationships with our partner agencies, said Capt. Ryan Gonch, the operations officer for the 2nd CST.

The knowledge and radiological sources the team that came to train us was invaluable. Everyone walked away learning something this week, he added.

The 2nd CST is responsible for central, upstate, and western New York.The 24th CST which is based at Fort Hamilton in Brooklyn is responsible for missions in New York City, Long Island and the lower Hudson Valley.

The teams have equipment that local civilian agencies lack, such as a mobile lab that allows members to analyze and identify chemicals and substances on location, Gonch explained.

The 2nd CST teams tracked down and discovered the radioactive material hidden on the destroyer. Hazardous material teams from the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the New York State Police, took part in the exercise as well.

The exercise was facilitated by scientists from the Department of Energy's Brookhaven National Laboratory.

They said the Soldiers and the Airmen from the CST performed exceptionally well on this exercise, Gonch said.Tim Rizzuto, the executive director of the Slater, said he was happy the historic ship could accommodate the training.

"We enjoy working with the National Guard and law enforcement when they reach out to us and being able to provide a site for them to train," Rizzuto said.

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