WEAPONS OF MASS DESTRUCTION TEAMS IN 26 STATES.

Subject: National Guard terror response unit slated for LA

>From UPI, http://www.vny.com/cf/News/upidetail.cfm?QID=76355 - National Guard terror response unit slated for LA Monday, 3 April 2000 13:08 (ET)

National Guard terror response unit slated for LA

LOS ANGELES, April 3 (UPI) -- The California National Guard will deploy a new unit trained to handle biological and chemical terrorism attacks this summer near Los Angeles, site of the Democratic National Convention.

The Los Angeles Times reported Monday that the National Guard is training units - dubbed "weapons of mass destruction teams" - in 26 states. California will be the only state with two such outfits.

One of the California units will be based in the San Francisco Bay area, while the Southern California unit - the 9th Weapons of Mass Destruction Civil Support Team - will be stationed in Alamitos.

"The purpose of these teams is to prepare us to respond if and when a terrorist incident occurs," Col. Lou Antonetti, a National Guard spokesman in Sacramento, told the Times. "The threat of domestic terrorism is not a question of will it happen, but when."

The weapons of mass destruction teams were created in the wake of the 1995 federal building bombing in Oklahoma City. They are to be trained to handle biological and chemical incidents, plus nuclear radiation incidents.

The Times said the Pentagon decided to form the units from the National Guard rather than the regular military because the state-controlled Guard has a history of working closely with local authorities during emergencies.

The units are to be trained and activated by late 2001, but the Los Alamitos unit will be ready this summer.

The Democratic National Convention is scheduled for downtown Los Angeles in August.