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National Guard performs hazmat exercise at Coliseum
By Greg Cima
gcima@pantagraph.com
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BLOOMINGTON -- U.S. Cellular Coliseum was the site of a practice session Wednesday, but the professionals weren’t using hockey sticks or footballs and wore very different kinds of protective gear. | Photo gallery

Twenty-two members of the Bartonville-based Illinois National Guard 5th Civil Support Team were being evaluated during a formal training exercise simulating a hazardous event at the Coliseum. Guardsmen were clad in hazardous materials suits, and an array of emergency trucks and trailers filled a lot northwest of the building.

In Wednesday’s scenario, a “dissident group” attacked people attending a volleyball match the night before, said Lt. Col. Larry Ritter, from U.S. Army North in Fort Sam Houston, Texas.

Maj. Norman Brooks said that, when looking at venues for the exercise, organizers looked for a realistic and relevant, potential target.

“This facility could be packed for an event,” Brooks said. “Someone could smuggle something in.”

Capt. Lance Wilson, the commander of the team, said that in the scenario, nobody noticed a problem during the event, but hundreds of people started showing up at hospitals about six hours afterward with skin and eye irritation and sore joints. About 260 people became sick in the scenario, Wilson said.

Wilson’s team didn’t get advance notice and was called about the scenario at 3 a.m., he said. The first advance attachment arrived at 4:45 a.m., and the main body of the unit arrived at 5:30 a.m., he said.

And Brooks said that, because the Coliseum is relatively new, the event can be used to help build action plans and show response team members the inside in case something did happen.

Second Lt. Stacey Rieger said the Illinois civil support team has extensive experience and received perfect or nearly perfect scores on its last evaluation. She said it was one of the first 10 such teams in the nation, and some current members were part of the original team that formed in 1999.

“They really do a bang-up job because they have such seasoned members,” Rieger said, later adding, “If something did happen at the Coliseum, we’re prepared.”

The team is trained to handle and determine the cause of chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear or explosive material incidents.

By 5 p.m., the team had finished its second entry and figured out the perpetrator in the scenario had released nitrogen mustard, a chemical warfare agent, Ritter said. The team also received radiological readings that they hadn’t yet figured out was from a small amount of Cesium 137, a radioactive isotope, Ritter said.

The exercise concluded later that evening.

The 5th Civil Support Team is composed of Illinois Army National Guard and Air National Guard, and it is one of 55 such teams in the U.S. and its territories, Ritter said. The Army makes the scenarios as stressful as possible in order to make sure the teams have the flexibility and rapid response ability needed in an emergency, he said.

The team members work with police, fire and emergency management agencies, and they are supposed to be able to rapidly report to the governor what has happened, Ritter said. Unlike regular Guard members who may work other full-time jobs and attend training on weekends, the CST members are full time.

The event was closed to the media, the Guard release said.

Ryan Denham contributed to this report.

Take a look
Members of the Bartonville-based Illinois National Guard 5th Civil Support Team take part in a drill exercise Wednesday at the U.S. Cellular Coliseum in Bloomington. As part of the scenario, Spc. Adam Geerts drives a Military Gator with Spc. Jordan Schisler, leaving a downrange operations post set up at Lee and Front streets. They are wearing fully encapsulated suits and breathing apparatus, traveling to the Coliseum, where a simulated incident is being staged that could involve a chemical, radiation or biological threat. (The Pantagraph/STEVE SMEDLEY)
Illinois National Guard 5th Civil Support Team Sgt. Alex Olson walks away from a portable toilet prior to suiting up in the fully encapsulated suit for Wednesday's evaluation exercise at the Coliseum. (The Pantagraph/STEVE SMEDLEY)
Illinois National Guard 5th Civil Support Team Spc. Jordan Schisler wears a fully encapsulated suit as he checks a loading dock entrance of the Coliseum. (The Pantagraph/STEVE SMEDLEY)
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Reader comments on this story - 7 total

Note: All views and opinions expressed in reader comments are solely those of the individual submitting the comment, and not those of the Pantagraph or its staff.

The Peanut Gallery wrote on May 22, 2008 7:03 AM:

" Finally - something the Judy-Dome is good for: simulating a natural disaster. There is something poetic in that picture. "

c.a.t.s. wrote on May 21, 2008 5:19 PM:

" you have to love this quote...They really do a bang-up job Rieger said, later adding, “If some-thing did happen at the Coliseum, we’re prepared." even the National Guard knows the place is never going to succeed...lol "

default wrote on May 21, 2008 3:22 PM:

" Your news partner, WEEK, is reporting this is taking place at the AT&T Coliseum. They're clearly mistaken. "

Crybaby wrote on May 21, 2008 11:31 AM:

" Geez: I gotsta' get me one of these neat vehicles. Plus the neat suit. So, in full sartorial splendor, I can head off the the Republican national convention in Minneapolis. "

fishpoop wrote on May 21, 2008 11:14 AM:

" Is it me or do you see this as foreshadowing as the coliseum is nothing but a hazard anyway? "

RockFan wrote on May 21, 2008 10:36 AM:

" I just thought they were cleaning up the mess from the rodeo :-) "

fishpoop wrote on May 21, 2008 9:53 AM:

" at least it is being used for something! "
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