051033 Wearing breathing equipment, amember of a California-based Civil Support Team (Weapons of Mass Destruction) emerges from a narrow staircase checking for casualties and hazards during training at the Center for National Response, a federal training facility in West Virginia. The center uses the abandoned Memorial Tunnel of the West Virginia Turnpike to train responders to cope with actual and suspected weapons of mass destruction (WMD) incidents.

Civil Support Teams (WMD) consist of full-time elite soldiers of each state's National Guard. Though the units report directly to the state adjutant general, they are federally funded and equipped with a wide range of special response equipment.

The tunnel training environment can provide darkness and (theatrical non-toxic) smoke of various densities. However, during training, the responders act as if the smoke is toxic and wear protective gear.

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