Collaborative effort We ve looked at the work the

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1 Lieutenant Colonel Filip Martel, commander of the Defence Laboratories and Katleen De Meulenaere, CBRN technical manager, talks to Gwyn Winfield about continuing to provide CBRN defence advice to Belgian forces cbrneworld We ve looked at the work the Belgians have done in CBRN before (CBRNe World, Winter 2009, Summer 2007 and December 2007). They tend to have a small defence budget (around #30 in the world) so need to look at ways of maximising investment. Indeed, as far as government science is concerned it very nearly came to an end in 2014 ( 2014/11/belgiums-federal-researchagency-under-threat) when federal funding for science looked like it might shift to the private or academic sector. Thankfully the Defence Laboratories (DLD) is ring-fenced and while it might not be living in the land of plenty it knows the future is secure. Yet despite living under this financial cosh the Belgians continue to provide interesting thoughts and research, often choosing one subject and focusing on that. For example, some time ago Belgium became the first European country to develop a CBRN sampling and identification of biological, chemical, radiological agents (SIBCRA) team, an expertise that quickly spread to its Gallic neighbours and the rest of Europe. What s more, while the US had adopted CBRNE, the division between EOD and CBRN remained strong in Europe. Belgium, however, was among the first countries to start knocking that door down, and was a constant feature The Belgians pride themselves in interoperability, this is a DLD sampling team and EOD divers dealing with a WW1 dump DLD June 2016 cbrne world 27

2 of Nato Response Force (NRF) CBRN rotations with its EOD unit. Now the effort is falling on forensics, a logical next step after providing SIBCRA and CBRN EOD teams. Belgium is now looking to roll its two full time SIBCRA units into SIBCRA/forensic units. DLD is an active member of the GIFT consortium ( which is researching, and in some cases delivering, the next generation of CBRN forensics in Europe. Engagement with this project is allowing DLD to look at elements of it and see what can be utilised for its own needs. Once you have a SIBCRA capability you have a great deal of the CBRN element covered, but DLD views this as a chance to learn how to deal with traditional forensic traces (DNA, data and dactyloscopic elements) in a CBRN environment. Mrs Katleen De Meulenaere, CBRN technical manager at the lab, explained: The forensics part will be an extra task for our SIBCRA teams. They have already done CBRN sampling and there is a current need for sampling of traditional forensics as well; it s a great opportunity but a lot of work. This operational capability gap is one of the reasons we are in the GIFT project, it is an excellent chance to work with specialists and people in forensics. It means that we can work on a European level as well as a national level, as we can collaborate closely with other GIFT partners such as the NICC (the Belgian forensic research lab). It is a win-win situation. This direct linkage of research to operational army units is not unusual for DLD, as it views itself as an operational unit. Thus, the SIBCRA units the army fields have DLD scientists incorporated. DLD is made up of full time scientists and military personnel with scientific backgrounds. The split is about 50/50, which allows a great deal of understanding and knowledge to build up in the team, and provides a greater understanding of operational matters when it comes to offering CBRN advice to commanders. Lt Col Martel, commander of the DLD, explained the make up of the organisation. We have three technical departments. Katleen is head of the CBRN department which has five labs. There is the protection lab focusing on individual protective clothing (IPE), Colpro and decon. The detection and sampling preparation lab is deployable and people can take samples, mainly in the area of environment and health and safety but they also do the sample prep for OPCW proficiency testing, for example. We have the rad and nuke lab, which provides logistical support for all the dosimeters of the military staff, operational and medical services. They have a lot of sources and we can test detectors, so we will test the GIFT (CBRNe World, October 2015) detector. Then there s the chemical The DLD Chemical Analysis lab analyses any suspicious chemicals and is the national OPCW lab D. Orban-Belgian Defence 28 cbrne world June

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4 analytical lab which is focussed on unambiguous detection of CWA compounds but also experienced in the identification of things like heavy metals and environmental issues. Finally we have the federal orientation lab which receives suspect samples for screening and dispatch. We do a lot of testing but also give a lot of advice to the military and sometimes to first responder departments. While it is prepared to help, the DLD has a very limited role to play in homeland security, the balance of that element falls to the police and the NICC. Yet while suspect packages might eventually end up in a civilian lab, as Lt Col Martel stated, they all start at the orientation lab, which acts as a triage point for devices. The packages are overpacked and taken to Vilvoorde to be x-rayed, categorised and then placed in either a biological, chemical or radiological lab that will provide confirmatory categorisation before they are safely re-packaged for shipment to a civilian facility all under the watchful eyes of law enforcement. Mrs De Meulenaere explained: The packages come to us and we do the initial analysis. We have a national reference lab for all disciplines, so for chemical substances the lab is here, but for bio, for example, the health department lab is used. Since the samples arriving here are unknown they might be mixed samples, so we must do rapid analysis and screen each package to exclude all other risks before it goes to one of the national labs. The chemical analysis lab is also the OCPW designated lab, and therefore needs to retain a high order of competence, so it makes sense for it to deal with unknown chemical substances in anticipation of OPCW tests. The biological element is more complicated, and split into two parts,with a technical manager for bio, which has a bio lab in conjunction with the Catholic University of Louvain and a technical manager for CBRN, which covers chemical and radiological but also includes elements of bio. The former was the unit that Belgium sent to Guinea for the Ebola outbreak. Does that mean that the split is between biological warfare agents and emerging infectious diseases, or that one element deals with the research side, while the other is operational? Lt Col Martel agreed that it was more complicated, and that the split wasn t as straightforward as I suggested. The bio piece is a bit particular, which is why it is separate. It doesn t fall into the same mechanisms as the others, and it needs a degree of specialism that we consider too specialised for us to develop on our own. That is why we have a relationship with UCL, a university hospital, and together we have the Centre for Applied Molecular Technologies (CTMA) lab, which works on DNA and PCR. They mainly focus on identification of bio compounds and are linked with a medical hospital for expertise in diseases. We have some military people working in that lab, which was deployed to Guinea, and we had two people in both rotations. The Ebola operation was quite a big deal for the team. Many individuals found that what works well in the lab does not necessarily do so in the field, and there are few areas quite as challenging as Africa. It was not only a test of some of their biological identification procedures, but also involved things like satellite communications and other logistics. Lt Col Martel explained more: They are mainly focussed on developing DNA/PCR techniques and trying to see what happens when you field them. What we do is from a CBRN perspective, not a health perspective, but there is a link if you consider detection and how disease spreads; that is the same regardless of a civilian or military situation. Things that are developed for the military biological perspective can also be used in a scenario which is more health related. It was an opportunity for the team to do some testing as we don t think we will have a similar Ebola event in Belgium! It was a test environment to see whether everything works like you intended and developed it in the lab, which is not always the same thing. They also did some useful work to help the people of Guinea and the medical staff assisted the hospitals with analysis: that is when it ceases to be a CBRN asset and quickly becomes more of a medical asset. That said we also learned lessons for military operations, we saw the impact of the climate, the heat, the protective clothing and long hours. We normally tell a military unit it will be a four- month shift, but we could not let them stay out there that long as it was too heavy a burden due to the long hours, climatic effects and mental stress. Due to its world war one legacy, Belgium has a long history of dealing with blister agents, and scarcely a week goes by without the iron harvest turning up a cache of shells that have been ploughed out of a foreign field. The use of mustard agent in Syria holds no fear for Belgian CBRN/SIBCRA/EOD teams therefore, yet this is just one element of the changing strategic picture for which Nato forces need to orientate. Indeed the recent attacks in Paris and Brussels show that the most likely threat to Belgian forces, which have been out on the streets in force for the last seven months, is not via Nato, but on the country s streets and boulevards. As this threat shifts how has it affected the questions that commanders are asking them? MrsDe Meulenaere stated that the spike in nuisance packages was the most obvious effect. They have had more questions, but in the past we have always had a lot of questions about very specific things. We have had more questions after the events of Paris and Brussels, but the real change is in the dramatic rise in the number of suspect packages. It is logical, but it impacts what we do. People work here on a 24/7 basis, and when we have a suspect package there is a need for confirmation, and if there is a chemical issue, we need confirmation of the result from the chemical analysis lab. So we have a lot more work in that area than we did two years ago. In terms of the threat shift it is part of the asymmetric trend that has been apparent since 9/11. It is an evolution in capability from one side, but in terms of the solutions we provide it doesn t make much difference. The frequency has 30 cbrne world June

5 changed, whether it is chemicals in Syria or Tokyo, or bio with Ebola or SARS, it doesn t really matter, every few years there s an event. We will receive questions from deployed individuals, EOD for example when they enter a scene here, but they are the same questions: whether the equipment will protect you; how long for, etc. The questions don t change, only the environment our people are working in. When it comes to plans for the future both agreed that it was not that easy. Belgium has had a reputation for being without a government in recent years; from 2007 to 2011 it operated without a political leadership and again in 2014 it took five months of negotiation to form a coalition. So while the team is pretty confident about its own improvements, including a couple of new gas chromatographs and a new mass spectrometer next year, when it comes to a place in the wider defence package this will remain up in the air until the new defence budget is signed off. The best case scenario, as Lt Col Martel admitted, is maintaining the current capability. From a management point of view, we have to ensure that the funding is Nearly the whole of Belgium has to deal with the problem of WW1 legacy munitions there to be sure we can do our job - which is always a challenge in the current climate. I also don t see that improving in the next two years. We need to see how that evolves and will keep a close eye on it. We will also be monitoring knowledge management as we need highly trained, experienced people. When the baby boomers retire you have to come up with a replacement without loss of knowledge, and that is very difficult. We are trying to anticipate that but it will be a challenge to maintain the same level of expertise. Katleen de Meulenaere saw the collaboration between national and international agencies being maintained and even increased in the near future. In terms of the CBRN lab it is important to have enough flexibility to see how we can help build new capabilities since we live in a changing world with changing threats. We have to try and collaborate more intensively with civil departments, it is becoming specialised, complicated and detailed so we will need to actively inform each other to foster sharing. This is also true in a Nato context, the development of a network is very important. We should go on participating with Nato, OPCW DLD and in other international contexts, as it is necessary to work together to provide answers to tomorrow s threats. In terms of the OPCW lab we are trying to develop more expertise on toxins and then the biomedical and other complex matrices, so we want to extend our expertise into that domain. Belgium, either through financial restraints or intellectual rigour, tends to be an early adopter of solutions to capability gaps, so it is interesting to see it investing in forensics. Admittedly this can be interpreted as the natural follow on from SIBCRA, but with the skill drawdown happening in the civil sector as much as the military one, and the homeland threat becoming more prevalent and more asymmetric, this choice of direction seems to be a good one. The GIFT project ends in autumn 2017, and the team will be assessing the exercises and training packages closely, to see how quickly they can start incorporating them into their existing squads so they could (in my estimation) potentially have a capability by the end of It will be interesting to see if they start a new capability after that, as forensics would be the most logical end of the EOD- SIBCRA journey. June 2016 cbrne world 31