Air and Army members of the Oregon National Guard’s 102nd Weapons of Mass Destruction-Civil Support Team spotlighted their first response capabilities, and how those interact with local police and firefighter efforts, in a demonstration Oct. 27 in Brooks, Ore. According to a National Guard Bureau news release, the Salem-based unit reacted to a scenario in which an apparent Sarin gas cloud spread from a building onto the road. After first responder units of police and firefighters also were exposed, authorities called on the 22-member Salem-based team to help identify and eradicate the hazardous element. The Oregon unit received its certification this past summer.
When Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Air Force Gen. Dan Caine described the 150 aircraft used in Operation Absolute Resolve, the mission to capture Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, he referenced many by name, including the F-35 and F-22 fighters and B-1 bomber. Not specified, however, were “remotely piloted drones,” among them a secretive aircraft spotted and photographed returning to Puerto…

