A C-130 dropped the Civil Response Team in Unalaska on Sunday. (Lauren Rosenthal/KUCB)

An elite team of emergency responders is visiting Unalaska this week to test their skills in unfamiliar territory.

The Civil Support Team is an offshoot of Alaska’s Air National Guard, based in Anchorage.

"With traditional guardsmen, it generally takes a little while to call them out," says Captain William Yeo. "But we’re always on a one-hour leash to head out the door."

The 22-person unit has been called out to help law enforcement all over the state. Usually, they step in to assist after a natural disaster. But their real specialty is handling chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear threats.

Yeo says those are more common than you might think, considering the range of military operations that have taken place here over the years -- and Unalaska’s precise location.

"You’re in the middle of the Aleutians," Yeo says. "Stuff is going to wash up on the beach."

That’s the scenario that the Civil Support Team will be acting out Wednesday night, as they face a container of hazardous materials that’s supposedly appeared on Front Beach. The Unalaska Fire Department will work with them to respond.

The exercise isn't the primary focus of this trip to Unalaska, though. Before they leave, Major Richard Mohammadi says the team wants to figure out its limitations.

"Whenever we get deployed, we have this ability to call back and say, 'We’re running low on our suits, we’re running low on some of the other logistical requirements we have that are very technically specific to what we do,'" says Mohammadi. "And they’re supposed to bring it to us. So how’s that going to happen? Especially all the way down here, from the U.S. mainland?"

Finding an answer to those questions before there’s a real emergency in the Aleutians is critical, Yeo says.

"We want to know what we’re dealing with so that we can plan ahead for it," Yeo says. "So we’re not trying to get this stuff fixed while we should be helping people."

The Civil Support Team will start its response drill tonight at 6 pm. on Front Beach, behind the high school. Traffic may be limited to a single lane to accommodate the exercise.