support. Instead, it will maintain forward positions to continue providing
Operational Decontamination to the rest of the battalion.
Usually, a
chemical company provides general support to a division. Its platoon may be
in direct support or attached to each maneuver brigade. When this is done,
the platoon provides Thorough Decontamination. The brigade TOC directs the
contaminated unit to send an advance party to the decontamination site in
the brigade rear to rendezvous with the Decontamination Platoon.
The TOC
will specify the route to take. To limit contamination spread, the S4 or G4
section restricts the movement of contaminated units to specific routes.
Nondivisional units are provided decontamination support by the chemical
units operating in their area.
The Decontamination Platoon selects a site from among possible sites
identified by the brigade or division chemical section.
The movement of
contaminated companies follows routes designated by the division G4.
The
Decontamination Platoon may need to improve the site. Site construction may
require time, materials, and special earthmoving equipment.
If engineer
support is required, the platoon must submit a request through its company
headquarters or the unit it is supporting.
The contaminated company's
decontamination
personnel
join
the
Decontamination
Platoon
at
the
decontamination site.
The platoon leader briefs them on site layout and
procedures.
Company personnel set up the Detailed Troop Decontamination Station while
the Decontamination Platoon sets up the Detailed Equipment Decontamination
Station.
While the site is being prepared, the main body of the
contaminated company moves to the predecontamination staging area.
The Decontamination Platoon, coordinating with its parent chemical company
and the divisional or corps chemical staff, may use smoke hazes to screen
the site. This may be necessary if the site is not in a built-up area. The
decontamination site is a good target. The constant flow of vehicles into
the site and into the assembly areas at either end of the site may be very
visible. Decoy smoke screens should be considered as a deception measure to
divert attention from the decontamination operation. See FM 3-50.
c. Execution Phase.
This phase is the actual implementation of two techniques in this operation:
Detailed Troop Decontamination and Detailed Equipment Decontamination.
The main body of the contaminated company arrives at the release point and
is met by the chemical platoon leader. After the key leadership personnel
are briefed, they lead their company into the predecontamination staging
area. The area is protected and large
CM2300
2-10
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