Bill would add training to cope with terror fight

WASHINGTON -- Fort Leonard Wood would become the center of U.S. military training for coping with terrorist attacks under legislation pushed by Sen. Jean Carnahan, D-Mo.

Introduced Wednesday, the measure complements a bill by Sen. Kit Bond, R-Mo., that would create a new command responsible for homeland protection, Carnahan said.

Home to the U.S. Chemical School, Fort Leonard Wood trains the military's emergency defenders, both active duty and reserve, to respond when chemicals become weapons of mass destruction.

For example, the Coast Guard sent 30 National Strike Force members there in January to learn how to spot nerve agents, scan people for radiation and respond in other ways to terrorist attacks.

From the base, some went straight to the Olympic games in Salt Lake City for duty. The Army base in Missouri's Ozarks also certifies and trains new civil support teams formed to respond to terrorist attacks.

But officials there say all the training is done in a facility intended only for exercises in bad weather.