The exercise recently ended Toxic Valley 2019, carried out in the training area of Zemianske Kostol'any in Slovakia. The exercise aimed to test the capabilities of NATO CBRN specialist units in SIBCRA (Sampling and Identification of Biological Chemical and Radiological Agents) and identification activities through the use of field laboratories and with the use of real chemical agents in the environment. checked.
For the first time, a set-up of the 2019th CBRN defense regiment “CREMONA” with other units from eight countries of the Atlantic Alliance also participated in the 7 edition. About 200 soldiers took part in the exercise.
The activity was carried out in two phases: the first dedicated to testing and validating the skills and procedures of the SIBCRA recognition and sampling teams and the second aimed at the delicate and complex procedures of preparation and laboratory analysis of contaminated samples, administered by Slovak CBRN Training and Test Center according to procedures validated by the international inspectors of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPAC).
In this context, the 7th CBRN Defense Regiment has deployed a highly specialized structure of the mobile field laboratory for chemical identification, an evaluator in support of the validation activities of the procedures used by the Alliance assets and a support logistic nucleus.
During the exercise, the performance of the materials and instruments was verified and the procedures for the preparation and analysis of samples contaminated by real chemical agents on matrices of different nature (such as rubber, soil, liquids, etc.), altered by the presence of interfering substances.
The 7th “Cremona” CBRN Defense Regiment is the specialized unit of the Army, equipped with special vehicles, equipment and instruments for conducting CBRN technical-specialist activities. The capabilities at its disposal, also validated within NATO, are constantly used in all operations involving the participation of the Armed Forces and can also be reflected in the institutional context in specific technical-operational activities (CBRN detection, identification and decontamination) carried out on the territory national in support of the Civil Defense Bodies / Bodies.
