The Rugged Brigade and DCRF 22: Preparing to Respond to CBRN Disasters

Relevance and History of Engineers

Engineers have always been the problem solvers of the battlefield, and the U.S. Army Engineer Branch remains the most diverse and versatile branch within the Department of Defense across the spectrum of military applications today—both in large-scale combat operations (LSCO) and defense support of civil authorities (DSCA) operations. Evidence of the impact of engineers on warfare can be found throughout history, dating to the beginning of war. From the defensive fortifications and watch towers of the Iron Age to the sophisticated Greek catapults of the 3d Century B.C. to the innovative Roman fortresses of the 5th Century A.D., the history and impact of military engineers can be realized wherever advances in fortifications, armament, or terrain-shaping technology and techniques are found. During 17th-Century siege warfare, the French famously employed sappers, or “trench diggers,” who dug trenches toward and underneath besieged forts to explosively breach enemy positions. Essentially, military engineers have always answered the call to find and apply innovative solutions to the rising military challenges of the era.

Modern Engineer Versatility

In the modern U.S. Army, the versatile, problem-solving Engineer Branch is collectively comprised of almost 20 engineer military occupational specialties. Each specialty—including engineer divers, surveyors, firefighters, power production and distribution specialists, geospatial experts, electricians, plumbers, carpenters, masons, concrete and quarrying specialists, heavy-equipment operators, combat engineers, and numerous others—contributes to shaping the operational environment and addressing relevant challenges. Whether tasked to construct tactical obstacles, build infrastructure, repair airfields, destroy minefields, clear routes, or create maps, the specialty engineers enable the Engineer Branch to fill any job and tackle any task. The motto Essayons, translated from French as “Let Us Try,” appropriately hints at the versatile application and inherently adaptable nature of the branch—both of which are necessary on the modern battlefield.

DCRF

Graphic 1. A rescue team breaches and enters a confined space in search of victims.

(Photograph by Marine Corps Staff Sergeant Jacqueline A. Clifford)

One of today’s challenging Army missions involves training, maintaining, and employing a joint, all-hazards, no-notice response force known as the defense chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear response force (DCRF), which is one component of the Department of Defense chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear response enterprise (CRE). It is composed of dedicated and allocated local, state, and federal forces that conduct emergency chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear (CBRN) response operations to address CBRN incidents anywhere within the United States and its territories.

While probable response scenarios encompass chemical plant explosions or other emergencies potentially caused by large natural disasters such as hurricanes or wildfires, the most dangerous response scenario is one in which the detonation of a nuclear device occurs in a major metropolitan city. Ultimately, the DCRF aims to save lives and minimize human suffering. The DCRF mission resides on the DSCA end of the spectrum of military applications and, therefore, requires a thorough understanding of the legal implications of employing U.S. Code, Title 10, Armed Forces,[1] military forces within the continental United States. Training, maintaining, and employing a joint, all-hazards response force requires versatility and sufficient skill in a broad spectrum of specialties—not a narrow application of a niche skill set. It is no wonder that the Department of Defense continues to rely on U.S. Army engineer brigades to command and control the tactical elements of this consequential joint response force.

TF-OPS

The U.S. Army Forces Command annually tasks a Regular Army engineer brigade to a 2-year assignment with task force–operations (TF-OPS), the tactical core of the DCRF formation. DCRF falls under the U.S. Army Northern Command, which tasks a joint task force–civil support (JTF-CS) to command and control the entire DCRF force, including four brigade level task forces—TF-OPS, task force–logistics, task force–aviation, and task force–medical—and various other specialty enablers that offer additional signal, human resources, legal, chemical, medical, and religious support capabilities. It is the responsibility of the TF-OPS commander and staff to synchronize task force movement in and around the response area; receive guidance from JTF-CS; liaise with the incident or area commander of the civilian emergency response infrastructure; and coordinate for logistics, aviation, and medical support from the other brigade task forces. The 2-year DCRF assignment in TF-OPS consists of equipping and training nearly 5,200 Soldiers during the first year, or “train-up year,” and sustaining readiness in the second year, or “mission year (MY).” During the train-up year, participating units receive special equipment, conduct key leader conferences, participate in tabletop exercises, validate technical training, perform command post operations, execute internal staff exercises, and take part in leader development courses. During the MY, TF-OPS units receive a prepare-to-deploy order requiring them to be ready to deploy within 24 to 48 hours (depending on the force package to which the unit is assigned) of a no-notice disaster event. Units maintain readiness by participating in regular task force status update briefings and executing various joint status/sustainment exercises.

TF-OPS Headquarters and Formation

Figure 3. Soldiers assigned to the 172d CBRN Company and Marines assigned to the CBIRF prepare a simulated casualty for decontamination.

(Photograph by Marine Corps Staff Sergeant Jacqueline A. Clifford)

The TF-OPS formation includes three battalion task forces and five distinct enabler units. Each battalion task force, identical in purpose and capability, is led by an engineer, CBRN, or military police battalion. Each battalion includes a CBRN company, an area support medical company, a general-purpose force (GPF) company, and an urban search and rescue platoon. Each GPF may be comprised of either an engineer company or a military police company, and an engineer construction company usually fills the urban search and rescue requirement to search for and extract victims. The TF-OPS enabler units are critical to the success of the overall DCRF mission; they comprise a joint force where the necessary specialized capabilities of the Army, U.S. Air Force, and U.S. Marines are consolidated under one command. Specifically, TF-OPS enables include an Army engineer construction company, an Army mortuary affairs platoon, an Air Force radiation assessment team, and Air Force rapid engineer deployable heavy operational repair squadron engineers. The Marine chemical biological incident response force (CBIRF) is typically considered a separate task force (even though it is part of the consolidated command) due to its inherent ability to operate independently from the rest of the TF-OPS formation. For some of the units in the TF-OPS task organization (CBRN company or area support medical company), the assigned DCRF tasks align with their unit organic mission-essential task list. For others (battalion headquarters, the engineer or military police companies compromising the GPF, engineer construction company serving as the urban search and rescue platoon), the required DCRF tasks may bear little resemblance to the unit mission-essential task list.

The battalion task forces must come together to provide six core capabilities, as outlined in the JTF-CS “OPLAN 3500-19 Overview”:[2]

• Mission command and communications.
• CBRN identification and detection.
• Urban search and rescue.
• Mass casualty and noncasualty decontamination.
• Medical triage and stabilization.
• Air and ground evacuation.

The Rugged Brigade as Leader of DCRF 22

The Army Forces Command tasked Headquarters Company, 36th Engineer (“Rugged”) Brigade, Fort Cavazos, Texas, as the TF-OPS unit for DCRF 22. In June 2021, the Rugged Brigade began receiving a series of in-briefings to start the DCRF 22 train-up year. From June 2021 to May 2022, the brigade conducted internal leader development classes, hosted mobile training team visits from JTF-CS, initiated regular touch points with the TF-OPS down trace battalions and companies, and executed a series of train-up exercises in preparation for a joint, multiechelon collective training validation exercise.

Before officially assuming the TF-OPS mission, DCRF units must validate their training in the Guardian Response exercise at the Muscatatuck Urban Training Center, Camp Atterbury, Indiana. The Muscatatuck Urban Training Center is home to top-tier urban training facilities that emulate various realistic response scenarios, including a train crash, underground tunnel networks, a flooded neighborhood, a prison, a church, a hospital, and rubble piles; rubble roads containing hundreds of cars to be cleared by the TF-OPS engineer construction company enabler can also be created. Guardian Response is the only DCRF exercise that encompasses the entire JTF-CS formation, allowing units to test their response, mission systems, processes, and procedures. Using numerous contractors and role players, the Civil Support Training Activity, U.S. Army North, observes, coaches, trains, and validates units at Guardian Response. The Rugged Brigade took the opportunity to test inherited operating procedures and pave the way for new and enhanced response techniques and procedures for various aspects of the response force during its Guardian Response validation exercise in May of 2022.

The Rugged Brigade and MY 22

Graphic 2. A Marine scans a Soldier for notional radiation and chemical particulates during a simulated decontamination mission.

(Photograph by Marine Corps Staff Sergeant Jacqueline A. Clifford)

The 62d Engineer (“Hammer”) Battalion, 36th Engineer Brigade, served as Battalion Task Force 1 for DCRF 22. During the annual recertification event “Determined Response,” the Hammer Battalion developed new joint service tactics, techniques, and procedures by commanding and controlling an unprecedented relief operation between CBIRF and a battalion task force. The process included eight deliberate steps: initial link-up, operations overview and debriefing, key leader terrain walk, new unit area occupation, new operator equipment familiarization, gradual force integration, process management handover, and operator exfiltration by the previous unit.

This type of operation is advantageous for scenarios in which the CBIRF establishes initial operations at a new response site and then reaches the point where it needs relief in order to maintain sufficient patient throughput. In preparation for the operation, the Hammer Battalion conducted multiple terrain model rehearsals with all stakeholders and refined tactical command procedures to include connections between the civilian incident commander and staff, the command team assigned to manage mass casualty decontamination operations, the CBIRF commander, the urban search and rescue teams, the GPF commander, and the medical treatment and evacuation commander. To command and control a complex and multifaceted formation, the Hammer Battalion tactical command post embedded a team of liaisons with each significant operation component. Occupying an operationally advantageous area, the battalion tactical command post could quickly receive and process information, track operational status through execution checklists, and report progress to higher echelons. With up to six liaisons employed at once, tactical-level feedback was rapid, enabling operational decision making to be flexible and effective.

Lessons Learned

The keys to Rugged Brigade success during DCRF 22 included the implication of a joint LSCO and DSCA training glide path, effective knowledge management, and consistent stakeholder engagement. TF-OPS units were faced with competing requirements and commanders with differing priorities. However, each one was still required to conduct DCRF training, validation, and sustainment activities.

The Rugged Brigade implemented a joint glide path in which Soldiers and leaders in LSCO and DSCA operations were simultaneously trained when possible, preparing for Warfighter 23-04 as the culminating LSCO training event while also staying ready to respond in support of DCRF DSCA operations. Incorporating clear training objectives for lines of effort maximizes the benefits of multiechelon collective training exercises. Planning efforts, communication across the formation, and the use of knowledge management systems are made more effective through the alignment of the correct human and material resources to the DCRF line of effort. Each unit undergoes heavy turnover during the 2-year DCRF assignment, but keeping the same trusted agents, liaisons, and lead planners where possible makes a substantial difference in mission success.

Engineers Leading Joint Forces

Engineers have always been the problem solvers of the battlefield, and the Army Engineer Branch remains the most diverse and versatile branch within the Department of Defense across the spectrum of military applications. Evidence of the impact of engineers on warfare can be found throughout history and remains overtly significant where LSCO and DSCA operations are concerned. The Engineer Regiment will continue to answer the Nation’s call, whether shaping the ever-changing operational environment on the modern battlefield or leading joint task forces in response to a disaster on the home front. The engineer Soldier has no choice but to fill any job, tackle any task, and continue singing Essayons in war and peace.