Centennial, Colorado –
CENTENNIAL, Colo. – The Colorado National Guard’s Weapons of Mass Destruction-8th Civil Support Team will host elected officials and community partners at a groundbreaking ceremony for a Vehicle Ready Bay Building, July 12, 2019, at 10 a.m. at Buckley Air Force Base, Aurora, Colorado.
The unit is specially trained and equipped to rapidly assist local, tribal, state, and Federal emergency response organizations with state of the art equipment and training.
“The Colorado National Guard 8th Civil Support team defends our nation 24/7/365,” Director of the Joint Staff U.S. Air Force Brig. Gen. Gregory White said. “This new vehicle barn will improve their ability to stage vehicles for a response in support of our state partners, potentially saving lives, reducing suffering, and preventing great property damage in our communities.”
The WMD-CST National Guard capability provides civil authorities at domestic chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear incident sites a means to identify suspicious agents and substances, assessing current and projected consequences, advising on response measures, and assisting with requests for additional support.
“We need to be able to protect our specially equipped vehicles from Colorado’s extreme weather conditions and have them ready to go at a moment’s notice to assist our partners,” WMD-8th CST Commander U.S. Air Force Lt. Col. Holger Peters said. “It’s a 24/7 mission regardless of the weather.”
WMD-CST members serve in both the Army and Air components of the Colorado National Guard. Team members will be on hand to demonstrate their equipment and offer a rare look at CST response vehicles as training events are typically not open to the public.
HB&A Architects of Colorado Springs, Colorado, designed the new building. The contractor, JE Hurley, of Colorado Springs, will build the 3,968-foot structure, which will cost $1.5M in Federal funds. They will complete the project in about 12 months.