(Appeared in print as "There When You Need Them") When disaster
strikes, agencies quickly can become overwhelmed. Once emergency
managers have exceeded their local capabilities, they’ll turn to
the state emergency management agency for help. When the state
becomes overwhelmed, it turns to the federal government for
help. But what many operations chiefs don’t realize is that the
closest federal assistance is within reach of their community in
the form of National Guard resources provided through the
Department of Defense. The full-time National Guard Civil
Support Team is a self-contained, 22-member unit capable of
providing secure communications, CBRNE assessment,
decontamination and a mobile analytical laboratory. The CST can
be requested anytime to help with a known or unknown hazard,
released intentionally or accidentally, that is chemical,
biological, radiological or nuclear in nature. The CST also is
available to provide a communications suite and a command-and-
control working area during a disaster. It