JUNEAU — Cruise ship passengers unloading at the AJ Dock on Monday saw National Guardsmen donning hazmat suits on the front deck of a barge, but there was no cause for actual alarm.
The guardsmen entered the boat to take reconnaissance photos of a mock chemical weapons lab as part of a training exercise this week. The 2025 Operation ORCA simulates a Russian terrorist group targeting multiple locations around Juneau with a selection of chemical, biological, radiological and explosive threats.
The National Guard has dominated national headlines over the past few days due to President Donald Trump deploying more than 2,000 California National Guard troops to quell protests in Los Angeles regarding immigration policy. However, the Juneau exercise is unrelated to the deployment in L.A.
“This has been a year to a year and a half in the making to come here, so completely unrelated to any real-world activities that are happening,” said Dana Rosso, chief of operations for Alaska National Guard Public Affairs.
Operation ORCA is a biennial exercise led by the Alaska National Guard that practices interagency coordination to detect and respond to emergencies of national significance, namely the use of weapons of mass destruction (WMD). The National Guard began their scheduled Operation ORCA on Sunday, causing road closures on the streets directly surrounding the Alaska State Capitol.
National Guard members in hazmat suits use an iPad to take reconnaissance photos of a mock chemical weapons lab simulation site on Monday, June 9, 2025. (Natalie Buttner / Juneau Empire)
The operation is led by the Alaska Civil Support Team (CST), a National Guard unit that specializes in responding to incidents of WMDs. CSTs primarily operate within their state but can be called into other states for additional support.
“That’s kind of what we’re replicating here, that there’s a large event going on in Juneau and we need additional assets from those other CSTs,” said Capt. Kyle Rehberg of the Alaska National Guard.
CSTs from California, Virginia, Montana, Oregon and Texas are participating in this year’s Operation ORCA with support from the Juneau Police Department, Capital City Fire/Rescue, Tlingit and Haida Emergency Operation Center, FBI and the U.S. Coast Guard.
In addition to the chemical weapons lab at the AJ Docks, the parallel exercise at the Capitol building simulated a carfentanil lab, while the exercise at the fire training center near the airport simulated a pill mill. National Guard CSTs began addressing illegal drugs similarly to WMD in reaction to the proliferation of fentanyl in the past two decades.
“It’s been more accepted that these types of illegal drugs are WMDs, just because they can be so fatal,” Rehberg said.
Juneau was primarily selected for this exercise for its maritime environment, as well as its position as a tourist hub and the state capital. The National Guard encountered some of Juneau’s unique challenges when two C-17 airplanes carrying CSTs from Montana and Virginia were not able to land due to the weather conditions. At least one team utilized the ferry system to transport the team and equipment.
The exercise will continue through Thursday, with continued road closures around the Alaska State Capitol.
• Contact Natalie Buttner via editor@juneauempire.com or (907) 744-1980.
A mock chemical weapons lab simulation site inside the barge at the AJ Dock on Monday, June 9, 2025. (Natalie Buttner / Juneau Empire)
