Medical Aspects of Chemical Warfare (2008) - The Black Vault

History of Chemical Warfareassigned to the new Combat Development Command;and the logistical function, including all arsenals,laboratories, and proving grounds, was assigned tothe new Army Materiel Command. 145The effects of the reorganization were quickly felt.Within 2 years, the chemical warfare training programhad significantly improved. One junior officer, A Harrigan,described the changes:We have set up special 40-hour or 80-hour schoolsso that we can have a trained CBR [chemical-biological-radiological]officer and noncommissioned officerin every company-sized unit. We have assigneda chemical officer down to brigade, and a chemicaloperations sergeant down to battalion. We set asidea certain number of hours annually for classroominstruction for the troops. We set up special blocksof instruction for surveying and monitoring teams.We list CBR defense as a subject integrated into ourtraining schedules, and we may even throw tear gasgrenades or other agents at troops in the field. 145(p16)Harrigan, however, concluded that more realistic fieldtraining was still required to prepare soldiers for themodern battlefield with nuclear weapons and nerveagents. 145Beginning of the Vietnam WarThe growing guerrilla war in South Vietnam madethe Army again reexamine its training program, chemicalwarfare readiness, and no-first-use policy. In 1963one observer stated that, “after years of almost totallack of interest, the U.S. has taken up guerrilla warfaretraining as though it were something new under thesun.” 146(p12) As part of that sudden interest, the role ofchemical weapons again came under intense scrutinyand debate. That same year, Harrigan wrote in theArmed Forces Chemical Journal, “the best way for the U.S.to achieve its military aims in Southeast Asia wouldbe to rely on chemical warfare.” 146(p12) He describedhow soldiers could “sanitize” a large area with gasesand sprays that killed everything from vegetation tohumans. 146In 1966 a retired US Army general suggested thatmustard gas be used to clear Vietnamese tunnels. Hethought the use of low-lethality chemicals would saveboth American and Vietnamese lives by rendering thetunnels useless. 147 Other observers and authors alsorecommended revising the no-first-use policy. Publicopinion and national policy opposing the use of toxicchemicals was apparently the deciding factor againsttheir employment. The Army did, however, utilizedefoliants and nonlethal riot control agents in largequantities. The negative worldwide response requiredthe Army to make clear the differences between lethaland nonlethal chemicals.The expansion of hostilities in Vietnam caused agradual rise in the level of development and procurementof chemical-warfare–related items. By virtue oftheir training and specialized equipment, ChemicalCorps personnel were able to make a number of contributions,primarily in the areas of riot control andflame weapons.Yemen Civil WarWhile the United States was becoming involvedin the Vietnam War, a small war in the Middle Eastbrought the subject of chemical warfare back from thehypothetical. In September 1962, just after the deathof Imam Ahmad, a military coup of Yemeni dissidentsoverthrew the royalist monarchy and declared a republic.The new imam escaped assassination and retreatedwith his royalist forces into the mountains of northernYemen, initiating a counter revolt against the republicanforces. Egyptian President Gamal Abdul Nasserrecognized the new republic and sent military forces tohelp defeat the royalist troops, who were supported bythe kingdoms of Saudi Arabia, Iran, and later Jordan,straining inter-Arab tensions, mainly between SaudiArabia and Egypt. 148,149Egyptian efforts to defeat the royalist forces anddestroy their civilian support bases proved particularlydifficult in the mountainous terrain of northernYemen. Frustrated by the successful royalist guerrillatactics, Egypt employed chemical weapons they haddeveloped in the 1950s and obtained from the SovietUnion; defensive equipment was also obtained fromthe Soviets. 150 Egypt was the first Arab state to usechemical weapons. Despite having signed the 1925Geneva Convention, which outlawed the use of chemicalweapons, Egypt employed chloroacetophenonetear gas, mustard blistering gas, phosgene, and nerveagents repeatedly from 1963 to1967. 151Some of these chemical weapons were made in militaryplant no. 801 in Abu-Za’abal, near Cairo. Egypt receivedmustard-gas–filled KHAB-200 R5 aerial bombsand phosgene-filled AOKh-25 aerial bombs from theSoviet air force and secured numerous mustard-filledshells from British stocks abandoned in Egypt afterWorld War II. 149,152,153 Some accounts attributed thechemical weapons to German scientists, usually describedas Nazis, who had been brought to Egypt byPresident Nasser. Several sources reported that theSoviet Union, through its friendship with Egypt, usedYemen as a testing ground for its chemical researchprogram. Other reports mentioned Communist Chinaas the supplier. 154–16157