COBRA Training Facility undergoing bi-annual compliance inspection
Army Materiel Command Inspector Penny Pretrowski jots down an observation during the compliance review.
The CDP’s COBRA (Chemical, Ordnance, Biological and Radiological) Training Facility is getting a top-to-bottom compliance inspection this week by a team from the Army’s Materiel Command headquarters in Huntsville, AL.
The bi-annual chemical surety review, which is conducted in accordance with a memorandum of agreement between the departments of Homeland Security and Defense, provides an independent and in-depth evaluation of the facility and its operations, from how it accounts for, handles and stores the nerve agents it uses in training to how it maintains the various types of personal protective equipment used by students and instructional staff.
Among other things, the seven-member team, which is comprised of experts in chemical surety who regularly inspect nearly two dozen DoD and DoD-contractor chemical agent sites across the country, is also examining the COBRATF’s physical security and emergency response capabilities.
The review ensures the facility is operating in accordance with the latest applicable government guidance concerning chemical agent safety and security.
It also improves overall operations at the COBRATF, as inspectors routinely share ‘best practices’ from other reviews they’ve conducted.
The CDP should recieve the team’s formal inspection report in about a month.