The northern winter presented many challenges to outdoor live agent training as the Dutch Military found when they started the first of a series of training sessions in March.

This training was a continuation of the CBRN company deployment exercises carried out by the military in 2012 to develop their individual and collective skills in detection and decontamination operations.

"The training was conducted successfully and provided the Dutch personnel valuable experience in adverse working conditions."

Conducted in Vyškov, Czech Republic, the combination of cold conditions and heavy snow tested not only the participants but also the adaptability and experience of Hotzone Solutions’ (HZS) staff to find solutions to enable the training to continue.

HZS’ staff supported this training for the 101 (NLD) CBRN defence company with staff, a decontamination platoon, a CBRN Response Unit (detection, identification and monitoring) and four squads within safety and supervisory roles.

It could have been the case that no training was conducted at all but due to the capabilities of the facility, HZS and the Dutch Military, commanders worked together to overcome these wintry obstacles.

In the end the training was conducted successfully and provided the Dutch personnel valuable experience in adverse working conditions.