The Utah National Guard will add about 600 new positions as the U.S. military prepares to respond to domestic chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear or high-explosive incidents.
The new positions, expected to come online during fiscal 2012, will be part of a Homeland Response Force, which will train to respond to such incidents in Utah, Colorado, Wyoming, Montana, North Dakota and South Dakota.
Similar forces are being implemented in the Federal Emergency Management Agency's 10 regions.
About 100 of the positions will be full time and about 470 will be part time, said Lt. Col. Hank McIntire, spokesman for the Utah National Guard.
The new forces will bring funding for new personnel and their training to Utah, though exact amounts of funding aren't yet available, McIntire said. The Guard would hope to draw on current Guard members or military members who are transitioning out of active duty to join the response force, but McIntire said he expects new members will be recruited, as well. The Deseret News
