by Mr. Ilja Bonsen, President, CBRNe Society
September and October 2021 have been a significant watershed for the CBRNe Society. These months have marked the comeback of the NCT Events series after the pause imposed on us by the outbreak of COVID-19. The CBRNe Society hosted two in-person events, NCT USA and NCT Europe, connecting the CBRNe community. Despite the difficulties presented by the ongoing restrictions, both events were a great success, welcoming hundreds of delegates from all over the world. We gathered key decision-makers, first responders, industry representatives, and academia from the global CBRNe community. NCT is the platform that made it possible for them to interact with each other, establish new connections, and reinforce existing ones. Everyone had the chance to spread their knowledge and expertise, learning from others at the same time. This is what NCT is all about: people meet, learn, network, and contribute to making the world a safer and more secure place. You will have the chance to read more about both events in the next pages of this issue.
A significant part of the NCT Team’s efforts to achieve its goals is represented by the NCT PRO Trainings. Their long-awaited return, only anticipated by the NCT PRO SOF trainings at Camp New Amsterdam in late September, was hosted at the NUBICH Centre in Rieti. I could not think of a better location for the PRO Trainings to return, and I sincerely thank our partner for this event – the Italian Joint NBC Defense School – for supporting in making them a great success. The NCT PRO Trainings welcomed 14 teams from all over Europe who had the opportunity to try out the latest equipment on the market made available by our sponsors while training on their interoperability and response skills. The NCT PRO Trainings included a component of both CBRNe and C-IED/EOD, fostering interoperability between the two domains.
Next year we will have an extensive calendar of events, touching almost every continent. The first one will be NCT Middle East in Abu Dhabi at the beginning of February. This event will be followed by NCT South America in Brazil, NCT Europe in Germany, NCT USA in Edgewood, and NCT APAC in South Korea. All our event locations are hot areas in the world where countering CBRN and IED threats is vital, just as much as disseminating knowledge and know-how about them. The PRO Trainings will be an almost ever-present entity during these events. Putting the latest equipment available on the market in the hands of first responders, teaching them how to use it, and letting them test it in real-life scenarios is one of the best things we can do to enhance preparedness in the efforts to counter and respond to CBRNe threats. To conclude, the CBRNe Society is as committed as ever to making the world a safer and more secure place, and next year is looking bright and promising. I wish you a pleasant reading of this issue of the NCT Magazine!
