19.1 Crisis Response and Recovery (AFH-1 Section 17D)

19.1 Crisis Response and Recovery (AFH-1 Section 17D)

Air Force Handbook 1, Airman (15 February 2025) Section 17D is the after-the-event half of Chapter 17. It is not another tour of the Emergency Management Program, hazard catalogs, or pre-attack protection measures. Promotion tests for Staff Sergeant and Technical Sergeant code 17D at B (basic) on the Airman Development and Testing Chart, so you must be able to sequence who warns whom, how to report an attack, and what recovery actually requires once the ground stops shaking.

AFH-1 is blunt about priority: crisis response during and after a chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear (CBRN) attack exists to continue the Department of the Air Force (DAF) mission, and more importantly, for survival. If you remember only one 17D idea, remember that contamination avoidance in threat areas is the key to keeping people and assets from becoming contaminated in the first place.

Crisis response actions (AFH-1 17.11)

During attacks, the base populace’s primary focus is force survivability—specifically, getting attack warning signals and mission-oriented protective posture (MOPP) levels out rapidly. Typically the command post disseminates attack warning signals, alarm signals, and MOPP levels at the recommendation of the CBRN Control Center within the Emergency Operations Center (EOC). Testers love to swap those offices. The command post is the dissemination node. The CBRN Control Center inside the EOC is the recommending technical node. Do not credit the Crisis Action Team (CAT) with pushing the giant-voice product in 17.11; the CAT appears later, on the recovery side of the same section.

Department of Defense resources, including those tied to military installations nearest the scene of an accident or incident, will respond unless higher headquarters directs otherwise. That rule covers more than a CBRN strike. A fuel farm fire, a convoy pile-up at the gate, or an off-base crash that still needs installation responders all sit inside the same “nearest resources respond” sentence.

If you witness an incident:

• Alert others in the immediate area.
• Report it to security forces, fire and emergency services, or installation command and control.
• After reporting, stay uphill and upwind.
• Avoid inhaling fumes, smoke, or vapors.
• Attempt to rescue and care for casualties.
• Do not handle any material or component involved in the accident or incident.
• Evacuate if rescue or containment is impractical, or as directed.

AFH-1 adds a judgment clause: every situation is different and should be handled with established procedures coupled with good judgment. That is not permission to freelance. It is permission to apply the checklist when the scene does not look like the slide.

Alarm red and attacks without notification

DAF personnel who recognize an attack in progress take immediate action whether or not mass notification has been disseminated. When alarm red is declared, or an attack begins without notification:

1. Drop to the ground.
2. Don the protective mask if it is not already on.
3. Crawl to the closest available protection.
4. Don remaining individual protective equipment (IPE).
5. Immediately check every member in your immediate area so they are protected and have donned the proper equipment.
6. Assist the injured and provide self-aid and buddy care, with caution to prevent further injuries, particularly when under fire.

Using judgment still matters: covering in place versus crawling to a safer location depends on whether the area is becoming increasingly dangerous. A Technical Sergeant moving a work center under fire is not expected to march a formation to the designated bunker if that path is the kill zone. A Staff Sergeant who waits for a perfect giant-voice script while fragments are landing has already failed 17.11.

Attack reporting: S-A-L-U-T-E (AFH-1 17.12 and Table 17.2)

If an attack or enemy movement is observed, report it up the chain of command immediately. AFH-1 Table 17.2 is the S-A-L-U-T-E reporting method—a quick, standard way to pass attack information to the control center or work center through the most secure means available.

Two letter traps show up constantly. Unit is enemy identification data—patches, numbers, clothing type, markings on vehicles or weapons—not a lecture on your own service dress. Time is when you observed the activity, not when you finally reached a landline. Send the report by the most secure means; do not shout grid coordinates in the clear if a secure path exists.

Recovery procedures (AFH-1 17.13)

Once the immediate attack actions are in motion, recovery takes over. AFH-1 frames recovery as a combined effort by people trained to operate as a team with specialized equipment. The focus is saving lives, detecting and mitigating hazards, mission restoration, and sustainment. Immediate actions treat casualties, assess damage, and control contamination. Minimizing the number of personnel exposed to post-attack hazards is critical for both mission continuation and force survivability. Reestablishing the mission is a top priority—but not at the price of walking uninformed Airmen through unmarked contamination.

Reconnaissance

The installation commander determines when base specialized and unit reconnaissance teams begin post-attack CBRN surveys. Control centers are then directed to release post-attack reconnaissance (PAR) teams to collect information about the attack’s effects. PAR teams or resource owners report that information to their respective control center. They also mark and report contamination and contaminated equipment so approaching personnel can see the hazard tied to the resource. The control center forwards survey information to the CBRN Control Center within the EOC.

That chain is a Staff Sergeant / Technical Sergeant discriminator. A shop chief does not declare the base “clean” from the loading dock. A resource owner marks what they find, reports it to the control center, and lets the CBRN Control Center fuse the picture.

Post-attack reporting

Effective communication between PAR teams and leadership is essential. The CBRN Control Center within the EOC is the primary command and control function for collecting and consolidating post-attack information. The EOC Director up-channels that information and makes recommendations regarding alarm signals and MOPP levels to the CAT, based on what specialized teams and PAR teams collected.

Hold the three recovery voices apart:

• PAR teams / resource owners collect, mark, and report.
• CBRN Control Center (inside the EOC) consolidates the post-attack picture.
• EOC Director recommends alarm and MOPP changes to the CAT.

Decontamination

If you are not on a PAR team, recovery actions include performing immediate decontamination (if you are contaminated) and remaining under cover in a safe location unless otherwise directed. Control centers assess and determine what methods of decontamination, if any, can reasonably be put into action. That is a deliberate brake on well-meaning work centers inventing a wash-down line with the wrong chemistry.

The eyes are very vulnerable to nerve and blister agents. If one of those agents gets in the eyes, irrigate the eyes with water. If a chemical agent gets on the skin or protective equipment, remove it immediately. The reactive skin decontamination lotion (RSDL) and M295 individual decontamination kits are the most effective methods of removing chemical agents. In the absence of an individual decontamination kit, contact the CBRN Control Center for recommendations—do not guess from a memory card.

Chlorine is not a default home remedy. AFH-1 notes that 5-percent chlorine solution for equipment and 0.5 percent chlorine solution for skin decontamination should be used only after consultation from CBRN Defense Specialists, because some chemicals react negatively to chlorine. A stem that offers “mix five-percent chlorine and start decontaminating skin immediately” is wrong on both the percentage and the consultation requirement.

On the test and on the flight line, keep warning, attack reporting, and recovery C2 on three maps. A Staff Sergeant who recognizes alarm red without giant-voice still drops, masks, crawls, finishes IPE, and checks the people within arm’s reach. A Technical Sergeant running a control center releases PAR teams when directed, forwards marks to the CBRN Control Center, and does not locally “call all clear” or change MOPP ahead of the EOC Director’s recommendation to the CAT.