18.2 Disasters, Attacks, and Hazards (AFH-1 Section 17B)
Key Takeaways
- Disasters and incidents can occur with little or no warning, local or widespread, predictable or unpredictable; emergency plans mitigate impact on the installation, personnel, and the mission.
- Installations must develop emergency plans for the hazards likely to affect their areas: natural disasters, technological hazards, and man-made hazards, with man-made hazards including technological hazards.
- CBRN hazards, including toxic industrial chemicals and toxic industrial materials, cause adverse effects through deliberate release; DAFI 10-2503 is the CBRN Defense Program reference.
- Nerve and blister agents pose the primary chemical threat to air bases because of their persistent nature.
- Protective masks, ensembles, and military-standard collective protection filters are not designed for toxic industrial materials — the most important action is to evacuate outside the hazard's path.
18.2 Disasters, Attacks, and Hazards (AFH-1 Section 17B)
Quick Answer: Installations plan for the hazards likely to affect their area. AFH 1 groups those hazards as natural disasters, technological hazards, and man-made hazards — and man-made hazards include technological hazards. CBRN (including TIC/TIM) is the deliberate-release category. Nerve and blister agents are the primary chemical threat to air bases. For a toxic industrial material, evacuate outside the hazard's path; the protective mask is not built for TIM.
Expect the Unexpected
Section 17B starts with a planning premise: natural disasters, man-made hazards, and technological hazards can create emergency conditions in a wide variety of magnitude, scope, urgency, and degree of damage. Disasters or incidents can occur at any time with little or no advance warning. They can be local or widespread, predictable or unpredictable. Emergency plans help prepare for and mitigate the impact of these threats on an installation, personnel, and the mission. You cannot wait for a perfect forecast. The installation still needs a plan for the hazards likely to affect its area, even when warning time is measured in minutes.
That last sentence is the testable purpose of planning: reduce impact on the installation, personnel, and the mission.
Installation Emergency Plans
Installations must develop plans for the hazards likely to affect their areas based on appropriate response, mitigation, and recovery procedures. Installation emergency management plans provide comprehensive guidance for emergency responses to various incidents. The handbook then defines the categories those plans cover.
Hazard Categories as AFH 1 Lists Them
| Category | AFH 1 definition | Examples the handbook names |
|---|---|---|
| Natural disasters | Non-routine events that occur and cause severe damage that may require assistance | Hurricanes/typhoons, tornadoes, storms, high-water, high winds, tidal waves, tsunamis, earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, landslides, mudslides, snowstorms, fires, floods, explosions, and droughts |
| Technological hazards | Man-made events caused by a malfunction in a technological structure or human error in controlling the technology. Can be as serious as a natural disaster, causing loss of life or injury, property damage, social and economic disruptions, or environmental degradation, and can happen with little to no warning | Hazardous materials release and nuclear power plant failures |
| Man-made hazards | A non-routine event that exceeds the capacity of the affected area to respond in a way that saves lives, preserves property, and maintains the affected region's social, ecological, economic, and political stability. These disasters include technological hazards | Hazardous material releases and spills, acts of terrorism, active shooters, and nuclear accidents, plus crime, arson, civil disorder, war, biological/chemical threat, cyber-attacks, pollution, fires, and transportation accidents |
The nesting rule is the trap: man-made hazards include technological hazards. A nuclear power plant failure is a technological hazard and sits inside the man-made category. An item asking which category encompasses the other is keyed to man-made. Natural disasters are the weather-and-earth list (plus fires, floods, explosions, and droughts as AFH 1 names them); they are not a parent of CBRN. CBRN, including TIC/TIM, is the deliberate-release grouping — terrorism and hostile use — not a storm.
Worked example. A tornado that levels housing is a natural disaster. A chlorine tank that fails because a valve was left open is a technological hazard and therefore also man-made. An active-shooter attack is man-made but is not technological — no structure malfunctioned.
CBRN Hazards
CBRN hazards, including TIC/TIMs, cause adverse effects through deliberate release and dissemination. Terrorist CBRN use is an emerging transnational threat used as asymmetric measures of intent. All DAF personnel must plan, prepare, respond, and recover from CBRN incidents. Detail is in DAFI 10-2503, CBRN Defense Program.
CBRN and Related Hazard Categories
| Hazard | AFH 1 definition and tested details |
|---|---|
| Chemical agents | "A chemical substance that is intended for use in military operations to kill, seriously injure, or incapacitate mainly through its physiological effects." Categorized by physiological effect: lung damaging agents (choking), blister agents, blood agents, incapacitating agents, and nerve agents. Delivery can include tactical ballistic missiles, bombs, artillery, grenades, mines, and spray attacks. Due to their persistent nature, nerve and blister agents pose as a primary threat to air bases. |
| Biological agents | A microorganism (or a toxin derived from it) that causes disease in personnel, plants, or animals or causes the deterioration of materiel. Includes viruses, bacteria, fungi, and toxins. May appear as liquid droplets, aerosols, or dry powders. Symptoms may not be experienced immediately after contact — each agent has a different exposure (incubation) period. |
| Radiological and nuclear | Nonionizing radiation (light, radiofrequency, microwaves) generally produces heat. Ionizing radiation produces ions and alters or destroys cell processes. Adversaries may disseminate radioactive material without a detonation. Primary concerns of a nuclear detonation: blast/shock, thermal radiation (heat), ionizing radiation, and ballistic debris, plus possible electromagnetic pulse. |
| Toxic industrial chemical (TIC) | A chemical developed or manufactured for use in industrial operations or research by industry, government, or academia that poses a hazard. |
| Toxic industrial material (TIM) | A generic term for toxic, chemical, biological, or radioactive substances in solid, liquid, aerosolized, or gaseous form that may be used, or stored for use, for industrial, commercial, medical, military, or domestic purposes. |
Chemical versus biological is a definition item. Chemical agents are intended for military operations and work mainly through physiological effects. Biological agents are microorganisms or toxins that cause disease or deteriorate materiel. Because each biological agent has its own incubation period, symptoms may not appear immediately — a delayed-onset item is still biological, not a non-attack. TIC is an industrial/research chemical. TIM is the generic term that can be chemical, biological, or radioactive. Nerve and blister agents are the chemical sub-list keyed as the primary threat to air bases because of their persistent nature.
The TIM Rule Every Airman Must Know
Most toxic industrial materials present a vapor (inhalation) hazard and may also reduce the oxygen concentration below that required to support life. In a TIM incident, the most important action is to immediately evacuate to an area outside the hazard's path, if feasible.
AFH 1 then closes the MOPP workaround: the protective mask, ensemble, and military standard collective protection filters are not designed to provide protection from toxic industrial materials. If evacuation is impractical, implement shelter-in-place procedures.
This is the CBRN-adjacent scenario where donning the ground crew ensemble is not the keyed answer. The ensemble (taught in 17C) is the best immediate protection against chemical agents. TIM is different chemistry and can starve the air of oxygen. Do not treat TIM like a nerve agent: a CBRN filter not designed for the industrial chemical will not save you. Evacuate first; shelter-in-place only when you cannot get out of the path.
Worked example. A tanker of industrial solvent ruptures upwind of a work center. That is a TIM. Leave the vapor path — do not default to MOPP 4. If you cannot get out, shelter-in-place. Contrast a nerve-agent spray attack: that is a chemical agent, and the ground crew ensemble is the best immediate protection. A nuclear airburst's electromagnetic pulse is a separate primary concern from blast, heat, ionizing radiation, and ballistic debris; nonionizing radiation (radios, microwaves) is the heat-producing kind, not the cell-destroying kind.
How does AFH 1 relate man-made hazards to technological hazards?
Which chemical agents does AFH 1 identify as the primary threat to air bases, and why?
A toxic industrial material has been released near a work center. What does AFH 1 identify as the most important individual action, and why?
How does AFH 1 define a chemical agent?