Troops trained on neutralizing weapons of mass destruction

From the Business Mirror (Sep 17): Troops trained on neutralizing weapons of mass destruction
 

THE military is building up its capability in dealing with nonconventional threats by training some of its men in addressing attacks using chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear and explosive (CBRNE) weapons, so-called weapons of mass destruction.

While the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) do not have in its stocks these types of weapons, it was nevertheless training some of its troops in handling them and ensure they are prepared to deal with them if these weapons are used.

The ongoing specialized training for soldiers was disclosed on Thursday by AFP Deputy Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Edgar Fallorina after he led other officials in accepting P1 million worth of CBRNE equipment from the US government.

This is the first time we have had these equipment, Fallorina told reporters. “But this capability development has been going on for quite some time.”

Fallorina explained the AFP “started out with a small number [of trainees].” “Now we have a platoon size with the corresponding equipment,” he added thanking the Americans for the anti-CBRNE gear.

The military viewed the training in handling CBRNE as complementing the ongoing AFP modernization program and defending the West Philippine Sea. The latter is being claimed by the country’s neighbors.

One of the claimants, China, is a nuclear weapons-ready state, Fallorina said. He said training and equipping troops should be replicated in other units of the military until it has a sizeable number that can deal with these kinds of threat.

“This will be replicated in other major services until such time that we have a substantial number of personnel really qualified for CBRNE activities.”

He, however, could not say if the military would ever deal with threats posed by nonconventional weapons, expect for disasters.

“We really can’t tell about the future. But if we look back in history, we have a lot of major disasters. Suffice to say it’s always better to be prepared rather than be sorry when the time comes,” he said.

“With the competing priorities in terms of capability development of the Armed Forces, we really, shall we say, late in developing this capability. But thanks to our counterparts, we are given some support and we’re able to start the capability development for this specific, basically a capability gap because we don’t have that yet,” he added.

Fallorina said soldiers, or those trained in dealing with CBRNE, would be the first responders should threats arise from these types of weapons.

“They are highly trained and they basically are mobile. We have the equipment as you see. It can be transported either by land through the M35. And if it requires to other islands in other parts of the country, it can be transported through the C-130s.”

Col. Gerry Amante, chief of Army munitions control center, said the trained troops “are ready to respond to any incident whether it be nuclear, chemical, biological or radiological incident.”

“We are also preparing for any eventuality with regards to calamities, especially brought about by the possible earthquakes where there will be industrial leaks,” Amante added.

http://www.businessmirror.com.ph/troops-trained-on-neutralizing-weapons-of-mass-destruction/