Technical Escort: Revealed

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Technical Escort: Revealed From the creation of the Army’s Technical Escort Unit, there has always been one mission that has never changed; the removal, transportation and disposal of chemical weapons. “The U.S. Army Technical Escort Unit was formed in 1944 and is the longest, continuously active, military chemical unit in existence... The unit was formed as a group of specialist to escort chemical weapons”(Cashman, 2000, p. 104). Although this mission type has not faded, the overall mission of these units has expanded to a larger arena. The Technical Escort Unit (TEU) now provides the Department of Defense and other federal agencies to include the Secret Service and the Federal Bureau of Investigation with an immediate response capability for chemical and biological warfare material. Its mission is to provide a global response for escorting, packaging, detection, rendering-safe, disposing, sampling, analytics, and remediation missions. This does not only include chemical weapons for which it was originally created, but now incorporates biological weapons, state sponsored laboratories, small independent laboratories and small non-weaponized radioactive materials. Most recently, they have been task organized to assist Brigade Combat Teams (BCT) as a force multiplier; the objective of this is to give the Battle Field Commander instant on the ground intelligence regarding Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear (CBRN) hazards within their Area of Operations (AO). With this new mission with the BCT, the TEU is becoming an expeditionary force. There are only two Army Technical Escort Battalions, each consisting of two or three Technical Escort Companies. “Each CRT consists of 15 personnel (two CBRN officers, seven CBRN NCOs,... ... middle of paper ... ...emselves for long. They rely on a higher headquarters to provide logistics and sustainment support. With the Army gearing its forces towards an expeditionary force, it is important to remember what Technical Escort Units bring to the fight. They can operate in a small group with such expertise that they truly are a force multiplier. These units will continue to evolve and provide this nations Army with unmatched CBRN capabilities. They will continue to be the longest active surviving CBRN unit in the nation. Works Cited Cashman, J. (2000). Emergency Response to Chemical and Biological Agents. Boca Raton, FL. Lewis Publishers. Headquarters, Department of the Army (2014). Technical Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear, and Explosives Force Employment (ATP 3-11.24). 110th CM BN (TE) (2013). 110th CM BN (TE), CRT SOP. 110th CM BN (TE).

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