“In a commencement address at the U.S. Naval Academy in May 1998, President Bill Clinton announced that the nation would do more to protect its citizens against the growing threat of chemical and biological terrorism. As part of this effort, he said, the Department of Defense would form 10 teams to support state and local authorities in the event of an incident involving weapons of mass destruction. “The WMD Civil Support Teams were established to deploy rapidly to assist a local incident commander in determining the nature and extent of an attack or incident; provide expert technical advice on WMD response operations; and help identify and support the arrival of follow-on state and federal military response assets. They are joint units and, as such, can consists of both Army National Guard and Air National Guard personnel, with some of these units commanded by Air National Guard lieutenant colonels. “The mission of Weapons of Mass Destruction Civil Support Teams (WMD-CST) is to support local and state authorities at domestic WMD/NBC incident sites by identifying agents and substances, assessing current and projected consequences, advising on response measures, and assisting with requests for additional military support. “The WMD civil support teams are able to deploy rapidly, assist local first-responders in determining the nature of an attack, provide medical and technical advice, and pave the way for the identification and arrival of follow-on state and federal military response assets. They provide initial advice on what the agent may be, assist first responders in that detection assessment process, and are the first military responders on the ground, so that if additional federal resources are called into the situation, they can serve as an advance party that can liaise with the Joint Task Force Civil Support. “The units provide critical protection to the force, from the pre-deployment phase of an operation at Home Station through redeployment. They ensure that strategic national interests are protected against any enemy; foreign or domestic, attempting to employ chemical, biological, or radiological weapons - regardless the level of WMD/NBC threat. They are a key element of the Department of Defense's overall program to provide support to civil authorities in the event of an incident involving weapons of mass destruction in the United States. They maintain the capability to mitigate the consequences of any WMD/NBC event, whether natural or man-made. They are experts in WMD effects and NBC defense operations. These National Guard teams provide DoD's unique expertise and capabilities to assist state governors in preparing for and responding to chemical, biological, radiological or nuclear (CBRN) incidents as part of a state's emergency response structure. Each team consists of 22 highly skilled, full-time National Guard members who are federally resourced, trained and exercised, and employs federally approved CBRN response doctrine. “These units derive their origins in guidance from the US Congress which stated the need to "establish and equip small organizations in each of the 44 states not receiving initial RAID (Rapid Assessment and Initial Detection) element in 1999 to provide limited chemical/biological response capability". “With RAID teams renamed WMD-CST, the first 10 teams were based in Colorado, Georgia, Illinois, California, Massachusetts, Missouri, New York, Pennsylvania, Texas and Washington; with each team being originally fielded in each of the 10 Federal Emergency Management Agency regions. An additional 17 teams, were announced in January 2000…. “The WMD Civil Support Teams are unique because of their federal-state relationship. They are federally resourced, federally trained and federally evaluated, and they operate under federal doctrine. But they will perform their mission primarily under the command and control of the governors of the states in which they are located. They will be, first and foremost, state assets. Operationally, they fall under the command and control of the adjutant generals of those states. As a result, they will be available to respond to an incident as part of a state response, well before federal response assets would be called upon to provide assistance. “If the situation were to evolve into an event that overwhelmed state and local response assets, the governor could request the president to issue a declaration of national disaster and to provide federal assistance. At that point, the team would continue to support local officials in their state status, but would also assist in channeling additional military and other federal assets in support of the local commander…. “WMD-CST units must undergo 15 months of individual and unit training. Following this, and as mandated by Congress, each WMD-CST units is evaluated for operational certification by the Secretary of Defense. Each team has two large pieces of equipment, a mobile analytical laboratory that it deploys with, that is utilized for field analysis of chemical or biological agents, and they also have a uniform command suite that has the ability through multiplexing systems to provide interoperability of communications to the various and sundry responders who may be on scene. “On November 15, 2001, Secretary of Defense Donald H. Rumsfeld announced the stationing plan for five additional National Guard Weapons of Mass Destruction Civil Support Teams (WMD-CST) authorized in the National Defense Authorization Act for fiscal 2001…bringing the total number of National Guard WMD-CSTs to 32…. “On March 9, 2004, the Department of Defense announced that it had notified Congress of the fielding plan for 12 additional...WMD-CSTs. Congress had directed the establishment of 23 additional teams in the National Defense Authorization Act for FY03 and funded the establishment of the first 12 in the Defense Appropriations Act for FY04…. “On November 22, 2004, the Department of Defense announced that it had notified Congress of the fielding plan for 11 new…WMD-CSTs. The fielding and certification of these final 11 teams will bring the total number of WMD-CSTs to 55…”. (Global Security.org, Weapons of Mass Destruction Civil Support Teams, 2007; See also: DA, WMD-CST Operations, Dec. 2007)