386th ECES sharpens CBRN skills in underground exercise
U.S. CENTRAL COMMAND AREA OF RESPONSIBILITY -- It’s 2100 hours. You’ve just received a warning order: an underground chemical weapons lab has been discovered, and it’s your job to clear it. You arrive on site and put on your Mission-Oriented Protective Posture gear. Your vision narrows. Your breathing slows behind the mask and the desert heat presses in. The entrance is nearly lost beneath layers of sand from years of storms. You crawl forward, scraping through the tight, dark passageway and once inside – your mission truly begins.
U.S. Air Force Airmen assigned to the 386th Expeditionary Civil Engineering Squadron tested their chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear response capabilities during a sensitive site exploitation exercise, simulating a clandestine weapons of mass destruction lab within the U.S. Central Command area of responsibility, July 24, 2025.
The scenario began with an order indicating a suspected chemical weapons facility underground. Teams were tasked with planning and executing a mission to identify, sample and document potential threats in a simulated hostile environment.
“We are testing our CBRN skills and doing a sensitive site exploitation of a presumed [simulated] WMD manufacturing site,” said Staff Sgt. Brian Easley, 386th ECES emergency management specialist. “This exercise is important to test our skills and make sure they don't atrophy.”
Airmen responded to the simulated lab in full MOPP gear, conducting reconnaissance, hazard identification and sampling under physically demanding conditions.
“It really tests our mental fortitude and how to operate our equipment,” Easley said. “When we get called to do this, it’s not going to be in just our uniform. We’re going to have to wear MOPP suits or something with an even higher level of protection.”
The initial survey team, led in part by 1st Lt. Blake Janas, 386th ECES officer in charge of planning, real property and environmental compliance, conducted preliminary sampling and reconnaissance inside the underground facility.
“We ran different air sampling, took pictures and notated what we found,” Janas said.
The lack of communication presented a major challenge once the team entered the underground bunker.
“Our comms went out pretty much as soon as we entered,” said Janas. “We had to come back out and come up with a method to keep communications going,”
Once the survey team completed initial identification, they relayed their findings, including images and sketches to the sampling team. After full decontamination procedures, the sampling team entered the site to collect simulated chemical agents and conduct dispersal methods.
The event tested core competencies of emergency management and civil engineering Airmen, aiming to ensure they can respond effectively in contested environments.
“This exercise is crucial because even though we might not face these threats regularly, they’re still very real,” Janas said. “Making sure we’re up to snuff with our skills is important if we ever need to implement them.”