CBRN Defence Training in Slovakia

A total of 70 Hungarian CBRN defence troops can participate in training programs conducted twice in every year with the use of live CWAs", Maj. Gábor Kovács, the chief of the training department of the HDF 93rd ‘Petőfi Sándor’ CBRN Defence Battalion told us. Maj. Kovács was the commander of the Hungarian “contingent" that was staying in Slovakia between September 19 and 23.

Sulfur mustard is usually used as the live CWA in the Slovak training programs. This brownish, oily liquid is a blistering toxic CWA, one which Saddam Hussein’s forces deployed during chemical attacks against the Kurds living in Northern Iraq in the 1980s.

The first four-man team of Hungarian troops was already preparing for executing the task of the day. With the help of their comrades, they put on the 96M grey rubber NBC suit in use with the Hungarian Defence Forces. This heavy, insulating protective clothing can be applied in wartime for defence against weapons of mass destruction (WMDs) and toxic CWAs, while in peacetime it can be worn on disaster relief operations. For example, during the red sludge disaster in last October in Hungary around the region of Devecser and Kolontár the CBRN defence troops wore this type of protective suit for several days, almost around the clock.

The soldiers examine the contaminated items of equipment with a green piece of metal which resembles a common handheld vacuum cleaner. The CAM-2 device is able to detect the presence and concentration of toxic chemicals from the ambient air. After that, the personnel verify the presence and type of the toxic CWA using of a so-called detection paper. The next step is the process of decontamination, which involves an operator’s spraydown of equipment with the aqueous solution of hypochlorite, then they execute a so-called operational decontamination (personal wipedown).

After the successful completion of all the tasks, they take a shower to wash the remnants of contaminants off their suits. Of course, they have to check their decontamination status before leaving the NBC course, so that every soldier must spend 90 seconds inside the decon control cabin which serves this purpose.