Army's Commitment to Supporting the Homeland Security Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear, and High-Yield Explosive Weapon Terrorist Threat: Can the Reserve Components Meet the Requirement by Themselves

摘要

The United States Government has identified of highest priority the development of effective capabilities for preventing and managing the consequences of terrorists use of chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear and high-yield explosive (CBRNE) materials and weapons on the American homeland. The Department of Defense (DOD) and Army both have a significant role in this effort. This paper will look at those roles and focus on the Army's ability to support the Homeland Security (HLS) CBRNE terrorist threat in the areas of agent sampling, detection, identification, and decontamination operations. Specifically, it will address the Reserve Components (RC) capability for responding to an incident and demonstrate the value-added of Active Component (AC) forces. The conclusion is the RC cannot fulfill the Department of the Army's commitment to this important mission by itself: AC forces must assume a more prominent role to ensure an adequate DOD response in this critical area.