Defence CBRN Centre

The site was established as an element of the Porton Down research facility in 1917. Known as Porton South Camp, it served as a trench mortar experimental site.

Reduced in scale immediately following the cessation of hostilities in 1918, research into chemical weapons and defence recommenced in 1921, with South Camp becoming the Chemical Warfare School in 1926. In 1931 the site became part of the Small Arms School as the Anti-Gas Wing. It would later become an independent entity, in 1939, as the Army Gas School, later the Army School of Chemical Warfare.

The site was operated by the Army until 1947, when it became a joint Army and Royal Air Force establishment. The emergence of a nuclear weapons threat led to the inclusion of radiological defence into the portfolio. In 1964 the biological threat was included in the scope of the centre and it became the Defence Nuclear, Biological and Chemical School. In 1999 the RAF took over the operation of the site, following the 1997 decision that they became the lead service for NBC training.

A full refurbishment of the site was completed in 2005, with the World War I accommodation replaced by a modernised training facility, used by all three services. Around this time the centre was the home of the Police National CBRN Centre, until it moved to NPIA facilities at Ryton, Warwickshire.

On 21 July 2005, the name of the site was changed from the Defence Nuclear Biological and Chemical Centre (DNBCC) to the Defence Chemical, Biological, Radiation and Nuclear Centre (DCBRNC).[2]

In April 2019, the Army took over control of the centre from the RAF regiment.[3]

An instructor at the centre operating the Manportable Chemical Agent Detector.

The Defence CBRN (Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear) School is the instructional element of the centre. Its mission is to deliver the UK's CBRN Defence Training for Operations on land.[4]

The Defence CBRN Centre is the home of the Joint CBRN Medical Faculty. The centre provides CBRN medical training to all medical officers in the UK Armed forces and courses are available to NATO/Allied Nations. As well as military training, Defence CBRN Centre also supports civilian response in partnership with the Health Protection Agency.[4]

The Joint CBRN Medical Faculty supports CBRN medical doctrine development, training and curriculum development and SME support to defence research programmes working closely with partners in the health sector.

The Joint CBRN medical centre supports the medical response to a CBRN incident and the management of CBRN casualties. It is a cross-government group under the remit under the Surgeon-General to develop CBRN clinical guidance, medical training and research. The clinical training objectives are to:[4]

"manage any CBRN casualties including trauma, manage the medical aspects of a CBRN incident, treat chemical casualties, treat biological casualties including sepsis, treat radiological casualties including nuclear.[4]

The DCBRNC Technical Support Group provides an external training and trials function. The TSG External Training Team provides all three services with their CBRN defence training, inspecting the training at unit level. Secondly, the Trials part of TSG helps the development of Joint Service CBRN defence equipment and procedures, supporting the CBRN Delivery Team and DES. The team has contributed to Light Role Teams, G.S.R. and the ARTS system.[4]

The Defence CBRN Centre assists with the military's annual chemical warfare exercise, Exercise TOXIC DAGGER, which in 2018 took place on Salisbury Plain and involved over 300 military personnel, including 40 Commando Royal Marine, the RAF Regiment and the Royal Marines Band Service for casualty treatment.[5][6][7]

• British Army – Defence Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear Centre
• Ministry of Defence – Defence Chemical Biological Radiological and Nuclear Centre