There are 27 states and territories who are assigned a domestic Chemical, Biological, Radiological, and Nuclear (CBRN) Response Element (CRE) mission. Army and Air National Guard service members are tasked with these missions in addition to their federal missions and provided funds to train quarterly in preparation to mitigate suffering and limit the loss of life in the case of a catastrophic CBRN event in the United States, as well as during all hazard events. A relatively small force of Full Time Employees (FTE) are put on ADOS orders to help man, equip, train, and provide command and control over these CRE elements. Although there is a dedicated funding source from NGB, the ADOS orders the FTEs serve on are considered temporary orders, which often results in highly trained and capable CRE FTE leaving the mission in search of job security elsewhere.

Recommend Congress authorizes the CBRN Response enterprise (CRE) Full Time Employees (FTE) to serve in a Full Time status similar to Full Time National Guard Duty-Counter Drug (FTNGD-CD), making the CRE FTE into the FTNGD-CRE. Modify NGR 500-4 to include wording similar to what is found in NGR 500-2