Coast Guard personnel could get chemical, biological warfare training

Thousands of Coast Guard personnel could be trained to respond to biological or chemical attacks, according to department officials. While the training program has not been finalized, the Coast Guard plans to use Web-based courses to give some employees a basic level of training, while more specialized units are sent to training centers such as the U.S. Chemical School at Army Fort Leonard Wood in Missouri. Fort Leonard Wood is the site for most engineer, military police and chemical training for the Army, Navy, Marines and Air Force.

"Obviously not everyone is going to need training, but we will probably offer a Web-based general awareness training course that will be open to those having the need [for training]," said Carol Rivers, principal research scientist for Battelle Corp., which is providing onsite contract support at the Coast Guard Office of Defense Operations in Washington.

Other personnel, including members of new port security units and personnel who support Defense Department missions, will receive more extensive hands-on training. Thirty members of an elite Coast Guard unit that responds to oil spills and hazardous material incidents were trained at Fort Leonard Wood in January.

Training for chemical and biological incidents was once customary for personnel on Coast Guard cutters, but in 1997 the service took response equipment off ships because it could not afford to keep it operational, according to Rivers. Training lapsed shortly thereafter. "We're basically starting from scratch," she said. The Coast Guard is investigating whether more on-site training should be conducted at Fort Leonard Wood, according to Lt. Cmdr. Dennis Branson, Coast Guard liaison officer at Fort Leonard Wood's chemical school. "It's not too premature to say plans are in the works to do training at Fort Wood," he said. Sen. Jean Carnahan, D-Mo., is trying to steer more training to Fort Leonard Wood as well. The Senate version of the bill to create a Homeland Security Department contains language from Carnahan that would require the new department to consult with the Defense Department to train personnel who are to respond to chemical and biological attacks. "Because of the work that is already done there [Fort Leonard Wood] is a natural fit and Sen. Carnahan will push to see that this new training takes place at Fort Leonard Wood," said spokesman Alex Formuzis. The amendment is targeted at federal personnel who may need such training, not local firefighters and police who already are trained through a variety of federal grant programs, according to Formuzis. "She hopes that state and local first responders will receive training whether it takes place at Fort Wood or not," he said.