Spec Ops - CBRNE

[Diabla]

Hello.

I am trying to do some CBRNE (Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear and high- yield Explosives) Specialist characters (i.e. 20th CBRNE Command or Navy Explosive Ordnance Disposal), but I cannot find anything similar in the "Special Ops" or "SEALs in Vietnam" books.

I can imagine that I can take the template of, for example, a Delta Force or a SEAL, and add as additional skills all the specialties of Hazardous Materials, NBC Suit and Explosives Ordnance Disposal, but would I be forgetting any? At what levels should those skills be? Does anyone have any satisfactory template, know where to find it or can come up with one?

Thank you.

[Þorkell]

I'm not convinced that all the skills of a Delta Force operator should be on a CBRNE guy. After all does he have a need to parachute into a hostile area, hike to the target area and observe etc.? Or clear a room of terrorists in a hostage rescue situation? I'd probably start with a Army Ranger template and add the specialist skills to that.

<cue posts to tell me where I'm wrong>

[MrFix]

Originally Posted by Diabla

Hello.

I am trying to do some CBRNE (Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear and high- yield Explosives) Specialist characters (i.e. 20th CBRNE Command or Navy Explosive Ordnance Disposal), but I cannot find anything similar in the "Special Ops" or "SEALs in Vietnam" books.

I can imagine that I can take the template of, for example, a Delta Force or a SEAL, and add as additional skills all the specialties of Hazardous Materials, NBC Suit and Explosives Ordnance Disposal, but would I be forgetting any? At what levels should those skills be? Does anyone have any satisfactory template, know where to find it or can come up with one?

Thank you.

Action 5 - Specialists is what you need.
Start with Lean & Mean Template + Infantry Training + templates for CBRN handling. That should get you a realistic enough operative.

Although in general it's a dull job not very fit for adventuring, imho. Unless it is the upcoming campaign's explicit macguffin, no GM will be leaving chemical shells around as traps for the PCs every session.

[thrash]

The US Army calls these "technical escort" units. There are tech escort elements attached to special ops units (SF groups, at least), but they are not typically tab-wearing Special Forces soldiers. Such soldiers would be airborne qualified, however, and expected to jump into an area of operations with the rest of the group assets. Special Mission Units (like SFOD-D) may have different parameters, but I suspect they would just send one of their trained operators to the tech escort (skill identifier L3) school if needed, rather than the reverse.

Tech escort units do (as their name suggests) manage the movement of hazardous materials, but much of their Mission Essential Task List is oriented on identifying, classifying, reacting to, and cleaning up after CBRNE hazards and events as they occur. A frequent (and telling) code for this is "Consequence Management."

You should probably add Electronic Ops (Sensors), Search, Traps, Poisons, and Lockpicking to your list of basic skills; Nuclear Ordnance Disposal is as important as EOD. A few points in Biology, Chemistry, or Physics is likely. A low level of Criminology (or Streetwise), Intelligence Analysis, or Engineer (Civil) is possible, as well. The Epidemiologist (p. 205) and Forensic Pathologist (p. 206) templates from GURPS Biotech are worth a look. Emphasize field detection skills over lab analysis.

Note that while CBRN warfare and EOD personnel are both present in the tech escort unit, their skill sets are mostly disjoint. A particular soldier specializes in one or the other, with some cross-training.

(For what it's worth, I know two of these soldiers. I consulted with one of them for the GURPS Traveller: Far Trader, which is where the HazMat skill comes from.)

[Diabla]

Originally Posted by thrash

The US Army calls these "technical escort" units. There are tech escort elements attached to special ops units (SF groups, at least), but they are not typically tab-wearing Special Forces soldiers. Such soldiers would be airborne qualified, however, and expected to jump into an area of operations with the rest of the group assets. Special Mission Units (like SFOD-D) may have different parameters, but I suspect they would just send one of their trained operators to the tech escort (skill identifier L3) school if needed, rather than the reverse.

Tech escort units do (as their name suggests) manage the movement of hazardous materials, but much of their Mission Essential Task List is oriented on identifying, classifying, reacting to, and cleaning up after CBRNE hazards and events as they occur. A frequent (and telling) code for this is "Consequence Management."

You should probably add Electronic Ops (Sensors), Search, Traps, Poisons, and Lockpicking to your list of basic skills; Nuclear Ordnance Disposal is as important as EOD. A few points in Biology, Chemistry, or Physics is likely. A low level of Criminology (or Streetwise), Intelligence Analysis, or Engineer (Civil) is possible, as well. The Epidemiologist (p. 205) and Forensic Pathologist (p. 206) templates from GURPS Biotech are worth a look. Emphasize field detection skills over lab analysis.

Note that while CBRN warfare and EOD personnel are both present in the tech escort unit, their skill sets are mostly disjoint. A particular soldier specializes in one or the other, with some cross-training.

(For what it's worth, I know two of these soldiers. I consulted with one of them for the GURPS Traveller: Far Trader, which is where the HazMat skill comes from.)

How does that work? Do they get send on their own within another fire team or squad? Or do they send a whole team at the platoon level? I don't really get this kind of military stuff...

[thrash]

Hmmm. It appears that the CBRNE element assigned to a Special Forces group is a "chemical reconnaissance detachment" -- platoon-level, but commanded by a captain and without the EOD features of a tech escort unit.

The Federation of American Scientists has posted a copy of the relevant doctrinal manual online: FM 3-05-132 Army Special Operations Forces Chemical, Biological, Radiological, and Nuclear Operations. Chapter 2 covers the organization and employment of the SF group chem recon dets.

[Diabla]

Originally Posted by thrash

Hmmm. It appears that the CBRNE element assigned to a Special Forces group is a "chemical reconnaissance detachment" -- platoon-level, but commanded by a captain and without the EOD features of a tech escort unit.

The Federation of American Scientists has posted a copy of the relevant doctrinal manual online: FM 3-05-132 Army Special Operations Forces Chemical, Biological, Radiological, and Nuclear Operations. Chapter 2 covers the organization and employment of the SF group chem recon dets.

I see, so how do you carry out a mission to deactivate a weapon of mass destruction? Do you send a fire team of four, a squad of eight to fifteen, or a full platoon with its support units?

[thrash]

That's going to depend on a lot of variables:

How much time do you have?
How much information do you have? How good is it?
Where is the device located?
How well guarded/protected is it?
What resources (people and equipment) do you have available?

(The usual mnemonic for this type of analysis is METT-T: Mission, Enemy, Terrain, Troops, and Time.)

If you have all the time, information, and resources you need, and the environment is permissive (e.g., your own military installation on home soil), you would probably stand up an inter-agency task force with specialists for every part of the problem (including logistics, media relations, liaison with local governments, and so on).

If time and information are short (which is likely), you will use whatever resources you have that will address the problem. A bomb that is simply hidden and probably booby-trapped will only need small teams of specialists, spread out to cover as much ground as possible; one that is guarded by suicidal cultists in a known location will require a force of combat operators to get that small team to the target.

Since this is a role-playing scenario, I suggest working it the other way. Write the situation so that it makes sense to send the size force you want to run, whether that is just the PCs (likely a single team) or the PCs with backup.

Note that many special operations forces are NCO-heavy and organized in teams or detachments of various sizes rather than traditional squads and platoons, and are much more capable than their size suggests. A 12-person SF Operational Detachment-A is squad-sized, uses a platoon symbol on graphics, is commanded by a captain (like a company of regular forces), and is doctrinally capable of organizing and leading a battalion-sized force of guerillas.

[The Colonel]

May also depend on what you can define as destroying the weapon - if you can blow it up in place and leave the remains to fester in the enemy's underground bunker you can pull a quicker and dirtier job than if the device is live and counting in an occupied tower block.
Nukes are easy to break - even relatively ham handed damage can greatly reduce the output of most bombs - although not always in ways that are safe for the person doing so. Dismantling one and stealing the fissile material should be within the skill range of a properly trained EOD tech.
Biological agents ... are never easy to weaponize in the first place so a lot will depend on the dispersal system. For the archetypal "vial of deadly virus" well, bleach kills most things and crushing that vial in a sealed container of strong hypochlorite will probably do the trick. Larger quantities of material may be trickier to dispose of. If produced in a professional environment, the tools to destroy it are probably already present - this is where your technical specialist comes in, who knows how to run the sterilise cycle on the tanks holding the stuff, or how to operate the facility's autoclave or clinical incinerator.
Chemical agents are another whole ball of wax - and this is when you really need to know what you are meddling with: for example most modern binary agents are only moderately dangerous pre-combination, destroy either element separately and hilarity is averted. Release either agent separately indeed, and you may have more of a pollution incident than a major disaster.

Meanwhile - and you probably have this already - basic NBC training is a core skill for pretty much any modern military and operators should likely have it at a decent level based on their priors. Although with the terrors of the WW3 battlefield less of a thing these days, perhaps the universal insistence on NBC training has faded ...

Come to think of it, don't the US Seals have some UXO/demolitions specialists or is that another group of Navy Operators I am thinking of?

[MrFix]

Originally Posted by Diabla

I see, so how do you carry out a mission to deactivate a weapon of mass destruction? Do you send a fire team of four, a squad of eight to fifteen, or a full platoon with its support units?

Batallion-sized force cordons the area, begins talk with WMD location inhabitants. Negotiations begin. If negotiations break down, eliminate all sentries. Entry team is special forces + infantry trailers that escort surrendering enemies and keep entry team supplied. When compound is secured, EOD CBRN squad walks in and works with the bomb in peace.

If risk of explosion is too great and it'll take out anybody other than the cordon forces + entry team, you talk it out and then try gassing them or just assaulting real quick.

Or you send in a lone infiltration operative, one man cut out for the job, five seconds from retirement. Will he be able to subdue the terrorist threat without getting the entire city killed? This summer, Mike Hunt And The Mystery Of The Druids.

P.S.: This honestly can be said about most military/police games. Any risky operations are supported by hundreds of people and undertaken by no less than 20. Assaulting an enemy position without having double, or thrice the enemy numbers is the first line in any strategy book's list of do nots.