View source for Chemical Corps

{{Short description|U.S. Army's branch for CBRN/WMD defense, research and counterforce}}
{{For|the offensive U.S. chemical weapons program|U.S. chemical weapons program}}
{{Use American English|date=October 2022}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2022}}
{{Infobox military unit
| unit_name                     = United States Army Chemical Corps
| image                         = Chemical Branch Insignia.svg
| caption                       = Chemical Corps [[United States Army branch insignia|Branch Insignia]]
| dates                         = 1918–present
| country                       = {{flag|United States}}
| branch                        = {{flag|United States Army|name=Army}}
| type                          = [[Chemical warfare|Chemical]]
| role                          = [[Corps]]
| command_structure             = [[File:Emblem of the United States Department of the Army.svg|23px]] [[United States Department of the Army|U.S. Department of the Army]]
| garrison                      = [[Fort Leonard Wood]], [[Missouri]]
| garrison_label                = Regimental Headquarters
| motto                         = {{langx|la|Elementis regamus proelium|lit=We rule the battle through the elements.}}
| colors                        = {{nowrap|{{Color box|#0047AB|border=silver}}{{Color box|#FFDF00|border=silver}} Cobalt blue and golden yellow}}
| anniversaries                 = 28 June (Organization Day)
| battles                       = {{hlist|[[World War I]]|[[World War II]]|[[Korean War]]|[[Vietnam War|Vietnam]]|[[Gulf War|Southwest Asia]]|[[Kosovo War|Kosovo]]|[[War on terror|War on Terrorism]]}}
| battles_label                 = Wars
| website                       = {{URL|https://home.army.mil/wood/index.php/units-tenants/USACBRNS|U.S. Army CBRN School}}
| identification_symbol         = [[File:Chemical Corps Seal.svg|center|100px]]
| identification_symbol_label   = Seal
| identification_symbol_2       = [[File:U.S. Army Chemical Corps Regimental Insignia.gif|center|100px]]
| identification_symbol_2_label = [[U.S. Army Regimental System|Regimental insignia]]
}}

The '''Chemical Corps''' is the branch of the [[United States Army]] tasked with defending against and using [[chemical weapon|chemical]], [[biological agent|biological]], [[radiological weapon|radiological]], and [[nuclear weapon|nuclear]] ([[Chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear|CBRN]]) [[weapons]]. The '''Chemical Warfare Service''' was established on 28 June 1918, combining activities that until then had been dispersed among five separate agencies of the [[Federal government of the United States|United States federal government]]. It was made a permanent branch of the [[Regular Army (United States)|Regular Army]] by the [[National Defense Act of 1920]]. In 1945, it was redesignated the Chemical Corps.

==History==

===Origins===
Discussion of the topic dates back to the [[American Civil War]]. A letter to the [[United States Department of War|War Department]] dated 5 April 1862 from [[New York City]] resident John Doughty proposed the use of [[chlorine]] [[Shell (projectile)|shells]] to drive the [[Confederate Army]] from its positions. Doughty included a detailed drawing of the shell with his letter. It is unknown how the military reacted to Doughty's proposal but the letter was unnoticed in a pile of old official documents until modern times. Another American, [[Forrest Shepherd]], also proposed a chemical weapon attack against the [[Confederate States of America|Confederates]]. Shepherd's proposal involved [[hydrogen chloride]], an attack that would have likely been [[non-lethal]] but may have succeeded in driving enemy soldiers from their positions. Shepherd was a well-known geologist at the time and his proposal was in the form of a letter directly to the [[White House]].<ref name=miles>Miles, Wyndham. "The Idea of Chemical Warfare in Modern Times," ([https://www.jstor.org/stable/2708553 JSTOR]), ''Journal of the History of Ideas'', Vol. 31, No. 2. (Apr.–Jun., 1970), pp. 297–304. Retrieved 14 October 2007.</ref>

===World War I===
The earliest predecessors to the United States Army Chemical Corps owe their existence to changes of military technology early in World War I. By 1915, the combatants were using poison gases and chemical irritants on the battlefield. In that year, the United States War Department first became interested in providing individual soldiers with personal protection against [[chemical warfare]] and they tasked the Medical Department with developing the technology. Nevertheless, troops were neither supplied with [[gas mask|masks]] nor trained for offensive gas warfare until the U.S. became involved in World War I in 1917.<ref name=brophy>Brophy, Leo P. "Origins of the Chemical Corp," ([https://www.jstor.org/stable/1983705 JSTOR]), ''Military Affairs'', Vol. 20, No. 4. (Winter, 1956), pp. 217–226. Retrieved 14 October 2007.</ref> By 1917, the [[Chemical weapons in World War I|use of chemical weapons]] by both the [[Allies of World War I|Allied]] and [[Central Powers]] had become commonplace along the [[Western Front (World War I)|Western]], [[Eastern Front (World War I)|Eastern]] and [[Italian Campaign (World War I)|Italian Fronts]], occurring daily in some regions.<ref name=moon>van Courtland Moon, John Ellis. "United States Chemical Warfare Policy in World War II: A Captive of Coalition Policy?" ([https://www.jstor.org/stable/2944522 JSTOR]), ''The Journal of Military History'', Vol. 60, No. 3. (Jul., 1996), pp. 495–511. Retrieved 14 October 2007.</ref>

In 1917, Secretary of the Interior [[Franklin K. Lane]], directed the [[United States Bureau of Mines|Bureau of Mines]] to assist the Army and Navy in creating a gas war program.<ref name=brophy /> Researchers at the Bureau of Mines had experience in developing gas masks for [[miners]], drawing poisonous air through an activated carbon filter.<ref name="Gross" /> After the Director of the Bureau of Mines, [[Van H. Manning (engineer)|Van H. Manning]], formally offered the bureau's service to the Military Committee of the [[United States National Research Council|National Research Council]], the council appointed a Subcommittee on Noxious Gases.<ref name=brophy /><ref name="Gross">{{cite journal|last1=Gross|first1=Daniel A.|title=Chemical Warfare: From the European Battlefield to the American Laboratory|journal=Distillations|date=Spring 2015|volume=1|issue=1|pages=16–23|url=https://www.sciencehistory.org/distillations/magazine/chemical-warfare-from-the-european-battlefield-to-the-american-laboratory|access-date=20 March 2018}}</ref> Manning recruited chemists from industry, universities, and government to help study mustard-gas poisoning, investigate and mass-produce new toxic chemicals, and develop gas-masks and other treatments.<ref name="Gross" />

[[File:Birthplace of Army Chemical Corps, American University.jpg|thumb|left|[[Commemorative plaque|Plaque]] at [[American University]] in [[Washington, D.C.]] commemorating the formation of the Army Chemical Corps]]
A center for chemical weapons research was established at [[American University]] in [[Washington, D.C.]] to house researchers. The U.S. military paid to convert classrooms into laboratories. Within a year of setting up the center, the number of scientists and technicians employed there would increase from 272 to over 1,000. Industrial plants were established in nearby cities to synthesize toxic chemicals for use in research and armaments. Shells were filled with toxic gas in [[Edgewood, Maryland]]. Women were employed to produce gas masks in [[Long Island City]].<ref name="Gross" />

On 5 July 1917 General [[John J. Pershing]] oversaw the creation of a new military unit dealing with gas, the Gas Service Section.<ref name=brown /><ref name=jag /> The government recruited soldiers for it to be based at [[Camp American University]], Washington, D.C.<ref name="Gross" /><ref name="Eldredge">{{cite book|last1=Eldredge|first1=Walter J.|title=Finding My Father's War: A Baby Boomer and the 2nd Chemical Mortar Battalion in World War II| date=2004| publisher=PageFree| location=Otsego, MI|isbn=1-58961-202-7|page=246 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kgrhjqIAMasC&pg=PA246|access-date=13 April 2017}}</ref> The predecessor to the [[1st Gas Regiment]] was the 30th Engineer Regiment (Gas and Flame). The 30th was activated on 15 August 1917 at Camp American University<ref name=eldredge>Eldredge, Walter J. ''Finding My Father's War: A Baby Boomer and the 2nd Chemical Mortar Battalion in World War II'', ([https://books.google.com/books?id=kgrhjqIAMasC&pg=PA246 Google Books]), PageFree Publishing, Inc., 2004, p. 246, ({{ISBN|1589612027}}).</ref> A 17 October 1917 memorandum from the [[Adjutant general#United States|Adjutant General]] to the [[Chief of Engineers]] directed that the Gas Service Section consist of four majors, six captains, 10 first lieutenants and 15 second lieutenants.<ref name=jag>United States Army: Office of the Judge Advocate General. ''Military Laws of the United States (Army)'', ([https://books.google.com/books?id=XmklRk7gscQC&dq=Chemical+Warfare+Service&pg=PA399 Google Books]), U.S. Government Printing Office, 1921, p. 399.</ref> Additional War Department orders established a Chemical Service Section that included 47 commissioned officers and 95 enlisted personnel.<ref name=jag />

Before deploying to France in 1917 many of the soldiers in the 30th Engineer Regiment (Gas and Flame) spent their time stateside in training that did not emphasize any chemical warfare skills;<ref name=lengel /> instead the training focused on drill, marching, guard duty, and inspections.<ref name=lengel /><ref name=addison>Addison, James Thayer. ''The Story of the First Gas Regiment'', ([https://archive.org/details/storyfirstgasre00addigoog <!--  quote="First Gas Regiment". --> Internet Archive]), Houghton Mifflin Co., 1919, pp. 1–11.</ref> Despite the conventional training, the public perceived the 30th as dealing mainly with "poisonous gas and hell fire".<ref name=addison /> By the time those in the 30th Engineers arrived in France most of them knew nothing of chemical warfare and had no specialized equipment.<ref name=lengel>[[Edward G. Lengel|Lengel, Edward G.]] ''To Conquer Hell: The Meuse-Argonne, 1918'' ([https://books.google.com/books?id=1pxkmbci77cC&pg=PA77 Google Books]), Macmillan, 2008, p. 77–78, ({{ISBN|0805079319}}).</ref>

In 1918, the 30th Engineer Regiment (Gas and Flame) was redesignated the [[First Gas Regiment]] and deployed to assist and support Army gas operations, both offensive and defensive.{{citation needed|date=June 2017}}

====Formation====
On 28 June 1918, the Chemical Warfare Service (CWS) was officially formed and encompassed the "Gas Service" and "Chemical Service" Sections.<ref name=brown>Brown, Jerold E. ''Historical Dictionary of the U.S. Army'', ([https://books.google.com/books?id=ygqNt3ra-vYC&pg=PA93 Google Books]), Greenwood Publishing Group, 2001, p. 93, ({{ISBN|0313293228}}).</ref><ref name=jag /> By 1 November 1918 the CWS included 1,654 commissioned officers and 18,027 enlisted personnel.<ref name=annl>[[United States War Department]]. ''Annual Report of the Secretary of War'', ([https://books.google.com/books?id=JoD2sA1SrugC&pg=PA60 Google Books]), [[U.S. Government Printing Office]], 1918, p. 60.</ref> Major General [[William L. Sibert]] served as the first director of the CWS on the day it was created,<ref name=hewes>Hewes, James E., Jr. "[http://www.history.army.mil/books/root/appB.htm Appendix B: Principal Officials of the War Department and Department of the Army 1900–1963] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170123130338/http://www.history.army.mil/books/root/appB.htm |date=23 January 2017 }}", ''From Root to McNamara Army Organization and Administration'', [[United States Army Center of Military History|Center of Military History]], United States Army, Washington D.C.: 1975.</ref> and he resigned in April 1920.<ref name=nyt20>"[https://www.nytimes.com/1920/04/07/archives/general-sibert-resigns-head-of-armys-chemical-warfare-service.html General Sibert Resigns: Head of Army's Chemical Warfare Service Resented Transfer]", ''[[The New York Times]]'', 7 April 1920, accessed 16 October 2008.</ref>

In the [[interwar period]], the Chemical Warfare Service maintained its arsenal despite public pressure and presidential wishes in favor of disarmament. Major General [[Amos Fries]], the CWS chief from 1920–29, viewed chemical disarmament as a Communist plot.<ref name=moon /> Through his instigation and lobbying, the CWS and its various Congressional, chemist, and chemical company allies were able to halt the U.S. Senate's ratification of the 1925 [[Geneva Protocol]] which forbade "first use" of chemical weapons.<ref name=moon /> Even countries who had signed the Geneva Protocol still produced and stockpiled chemical weapons, since the Protocol did not prohibit retaliation in kind.

===Roosevelt on renaming Service to Corps, 1937===
In 1937, President [[Franklin D. Roosevelt|Roosevelt]] opposed changing the name of the Service to Corps, stating:<ref>Franklin D. Roosevelt: "Letter to the Senate on Chemicals in Warfare.," 4 August 1937. Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley, The American Presidency Project. http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=15443.</ref>
<blockquote>It is my thought that the major functions of the Chemical Warfare Service are those of a "Service" rather than a "Corps." It is desirable to designate as a Corps only those supply branches of the Army which are included in the line of the Army. To have changed the name to the "Chemical Service" would have been more in keeping with its functions than to designate it as the "Chemical Corps."<br />

I have a far more important objection to this change of name. It has been and is the policy of this Government to do everything in its power to outlaw the use of chemicals in warfare. Such use is inhuman and contrary to what modern civilization should stand for.<br />

I am doing everything in my power to discourage the use of gases and other chemicals in any war between nations. While, unfortunately, the defensive necessities of the United States call for study of the use of chemicals in warfare, I do not want the Government of the United States to do anything to aggrandize or make permanent any special bureau of the Army or the Navy engaged in these studies. I hope the time will come when the Chemical Warfare Service can be entirely abolished.<br />

To dignify this Service by calling it the "Chemical Corps" is, in my judgment, contrary to a sound public policy.</blockquote>

===World War II===
[[File:Flamethrower in Tarawa jungle.jpg|thumb|right|The CWS provided support for flame weapons, such as this flame thrower being employed during the Battle of Tarawa, during WWII.]]
[[File:M2 4.2 Inch Mortars at Utah Beach.jpg|thumb|A [[chemical mortar battalion]] in action at [[Utah Beach]], 1944]]
[[File:Ronson flame tank Iwo Jima.jpg|thumb|The CB-H2 flamethrower seen here on Iwo Jima had a range of 150 yards<ref>LVT4 Landing Vehicle, Tracked, Unarmored (Mark IV), John Pike, GlobalSecurity.Org, July 2011, paragraph 5[LVT4 Landing Vehicle, Tracked, Unarmored (Mark IV)]</ref>]]

The Chemical Warfare Service deployed and prepared gas weapons for use throughout the world during [[World War II]]. However, these weapons were never used in [[combat]].<ref name=bernstein /> Despite the lack of chemical warfare during the conflict, the CWS saw its funding and personnel increase substantially due to concerns that the Germans and Japanese had a formidable chemical weapons capability. By 1942 the CWS employed 60,000 soldiers and civilians and was appropriated $1&nbsp;billion.<ref name=bernstein>Bernstein, Barton J. "[http://www.americanheritage.com/articles/magazine/ah/1985/5/1985_5_40.shtml Why We Didn't Use Poison Gas in World War II] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070929120950/http://www.americanheritage.com/articles/magazine/ah/1985/5/1985_5_40.shtml |date=29 September 2007 }}", ''[[American Heritage (magazine)|American Heritage]]'', August/September 1985, Vol. 36, Issue 5, accessed 16 October 2008.</ref> The CWS completed a variety of non-chemical warfare related tasks and missions during the war including producing [[incendiaries]] for [[flame thrower]]s, [[flame tank]]s and other weapons. Chemical soldiers were also involved in [[Smoke screen|smoke generation missions]]. [[Chemical mortar battalion]]s used the [[M2 4.2-inch mortar|4.2-inch chemical mortar]] to support armor and infantry units.<ref name=pike>Pike, John. "[http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/agency/army/chem.htm Chemical Corps]", ''Globalsecurity.org'', accessed 16 October 2008.</ref>

During all parts of the war, use of chemical and biological weapons were extremely limited by both sides. Italy used [[mustard gas]] and [[phosgene]] during the short [[Second Italo-Abyssinian War]], Germany employed chemical agents such as [[Zyklon B]] against Jews, political prisoners and other victims in extermination camps during the [[Holocaust]], and Japan employed chemical and biological weapons in China.<ref name=cox>Cox, Brian M. "[http://molinterv.aspetjournals.org/cgi/content/full/7/3/124 Torald Sollmann’s Studies of Mustard Gas]", ([http://molinterv.aspetjournals.org/cgi/reprint/7/3/124 PDF]), ''Molecular Interventions'', American Society for Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics, Vol. 7, Issue 3 pp.124–28, June 2007, accessed 16 October 2008.</ref> In 1943 a [[SS John Harvey|U.S. ship]] carrying a secret Chemical Warfare Service cargo of [[mustard gas]] as a precautionary retaliatory measure was sunk in an [[Air raid on Bari|air raid in Italy]], causing 83 deaths and about 600 hospitalized military victims plus a larger number of civilian casualties. In the event, neither chemical nor biological weapons were used on the battlefield by any combatant during World War II.

Though the political leadership of the United States remained decidedly against the use of chemical weapons, there were those within the military command structure who advocated the use of such weapons. Following the [[Battle of Tarawa]], during which the U.S. forces suffered more than 3,400 casualties in three days, CWS chief [[Major General]] [[William N. Porter]] pushed superiors to approve the use of poison gas against Japan. "We have an overwhelming advantage in the use of gas. Properly used gas could shorten the war in the Pacific and prevent loss of many American lives," Porter said.

Popular support was not completely lacking. Some newspaper editorials supported the use of chemical weapons in the Pacific theater. The ''[[New York Daily News]]'' proclaimed in 1943, "We Should Gas Japan", and the ''[[Washington Times Herald]]'' wrote in 1944, "We Should Have Used Gas at Tarawa because "You Can Cook 'Em Better with Gas".<ref name=cox /><ref name=vandyke /> Despite rising between 1944 and 1945, popular public opinion never rose above 40 percent in favor of the use of gas weapons.<ref name=vandyke>Vandyke, Lewis L. "[https://web.archive.org/web/20110430121403/http://www.dtic.mil/cgi-bin/GetTRDoc?AD=ADA242235&Location=U2&doc=GetTRDoc.pdf United States Chemical Policy: Response Considerations]", ([[Dissertation|Master's thesis]]), 7 June 1991, [[U.S. Army Command and General Staff College]], [[Fort Leavenworth]], Kansas, accessed 16 October 2008.</ref>
{{check quotation}}
Where there was support for Chemical Warfare was in [[V Amphibious Corps]] and [[Tenth United States Army|X U.S. Army]]. Colonel George F. Unmacht (US Army) became commander of the Army's Chemical Warfare Service, Pacific Ocean Area in 1943.<ref name="USAFlame">{{citation |chapter=Chapter XV, The Flame Thrower in the Pacific: Marianas to Okinawa |title=United States Army in World War II, The Technical Services, The Chemical Warfare Service; Chemicals in Combat  |first1=Brookes E. |last1=Kelber |first2= Dale |last2=Birdsell |publisher=Center of Military History United States Army, Washington DC |date=1990 |pages=558–583, 586 |chapter-url=http://www.ibiblio.org/pha/USA-in-WWII/Set-4-of-7/Disk-1/Combat.pdf}}</ref> Along with that he was the Hawaii Territorial Coordinator for Civilian Gas Defense and Joint service Pacific theater chief chemical warfare officer under [[Chester Nimitz|Adm. Nimitz]]. Under his leadership the research, development, and production of [[Seabees in World War II|flamethrowing tanks]] and [[napalm]] took place at [[Schofield Barracks]]. His crews of [[Seabee]]s produced more flamethrowing tanks than commercial production in the States. The Army and [[United States Marine Corps|Marine Corps]] felt the tanks saved many American troops on [[Battle of Iwo Jima|Iwo Jima]] and [[Battle of Okinawa|Okinawa]].<ref name="USAFlame"/><ref name="CMH">CHAPTER XV, The Flame Thrower in the Pacific: Marianas to Okinawa, WWII Chemical in Combat, Dec 2001,  p. 558 [https://history.army.mil/books/wwii/chemsincmbt/ch15.htm]</ref> The Marines felt they were the best weapon they had in the taking of Iwo Jima.

===Post World War II and Korean War, 1945–53===
[[File:Mortar-korea-19520505.jpg|thumb|right|As in World War II, chemical soldiers would have employed the [[M2 4.2-inch mortar|4.2-inch chemical mortar]] in Korea, had chemical weapons been used.]]
In 1946, the Chemical Warfare Service was re-designated as the "U.S. Army Chemical Corps", a name the branch still uses.<ref name=pike /> With the change came the added mission of defending against [[nuclear warfare]], in addition, the corps continued to refine its offensive and defensive chemical capabilities.<ref name=pike /> Immediately following World War II, production of U.S. [[biological warfare]] (BW) agents went from "factory-level to laboratory-level".<ref name=croddyhart /> Meanwhile, work on BW delivery systems increased.<ref name=croddyhart /> Live testing in Panama was carried out during the [[San Jose Project]].

From the end of World War II through the [[Korean War]], the U.S. Army, the Chemical Corps and the [[U.S. Air Force]] made great strides in their biological warfare programs, especially concerning delivery systems.<ref name=croddyhart>Croddy, Eric C. and Hart, C. Perez-Armendariz J., ''Chemical and Biological Warfare'', ([https://books.google.com/books?id=fGp53P6ijqsC&dq=chemical+corps+korean+war&pg=PA31 Google Books]), Springer, 2002, pp. 30–31, ({{ISBN|0387950761}}), accessed 24 October 2008.</ref> During the Korean War (1950–53) chemical soldiers had to again man the 4.2&nbsp;inch chemical mortar for smoke and high explosive munitions delivery.<ref name=pike /> During the war, the [[Pine Bluff Arsenal]] was opened and used for BW production, and research facilities were expanded at [[Fort Detrick]].<ref name=croddyhart /> North Korea, the Soviet Union and China leveled accusations at the United States [[Allegations of biological warfare in the Korean War|claiming the U.S. used biological agents during the Korean War]]; an assertion the U.S. government denied.<ref name=croddyhart /> 

After the end of the Korean War, the Army decided to strip the Chemical Corps of the 4.2&nbsp;inch mortar system and made that an infantry weapon, given its utility against Chinese mortars.{{citation needed|date=June 2017}}

From 1952 until 1999 the Chemical Corps School was located at [[Fort McClellan]].

=== Creation of the Chemical Corps Intelligence Agency ===
The [[Chemical Corps Intelligence Agency]] (CCIA) was founded in 1955<ref>{{Cite journal|last=David|first=Arredondo , Depositor|date=1962|title=US Army Chemical Corps Intelligence Agency|url=https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/usarmyresearch/173/|journal=DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln|language=en}}</ref> within a facility at [[Arlington Hall Station]], [[Virginia]].<ref name="Summary">{{Cite web |title=Summary of Major Events and Problems: Fiscal Years 1961–1962 |publisher=US Army Chemical Corps Historical Office, Army Chemical Center via rockymountainarsenalarchive.wordpress.com blog|location=Maryland |year=1962 |url=http://rockymountainarsenalarchive.wordpress.com/2011/07/09/summarymajorevents/ |access-date=18 February 2013 }}{{PD-notice}}</ref> which also housed the [[United States Army Security Agency|Army Security Agency]], the [[National Security Agency]] (NSA) and the [[Defense Intelligence Agency]]'s [[National Intelligence University]].<ref>{{Cite report|author=National Park Service|title=Arlington Hall Station, Photographs, Written, Historical and Descriptive Data, Historic American Buildings Survey, Mid-Atlantic Region|url=http://lcweb2.loc.gov/pnp/habshaer/va/va1500/va1560/data/va1560data.pdf|publisher=Department of the Interior|access-date=3 May 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140107153544/http://lcweb2.loc.gov/pnp/habshaer/va/va1500/va1560/data/va1560data.pdf|archive-date=7 January 2014|url-status=dead}}{{PD-notice}}</ref> The CCIA accomplished the intelligence function of the [[U.S. Army Chemical Corps]]. Its mission was to support the national intelligence effort with particular emphasis on the military aspects of Chemical, Biological and Radiological (CBR) intelligence information.<ref name="Summary" />

U.S. Army Chemical Corps Information and Liaison Office, Europe (CCILO–E) was established and located in Frankfurt, Germany.<ref name="Summary" /> During November and December 1961 two CCIA officers visited the Far East on an intelligence collection trip.<ref name="Summary" /> This visit led to a recommendation by CCIA to establish an information and liaison office in Tokyo patterned on the Frankfurt agency.<ref name="Summary" /> The Chief Chemical Officer and Assistant Chief of Staff for Intelligence (ACS/I) approved the recommendation and foresaw an activation date in financial year 1964. Two CCIA staff members again toured selected U.S. intelligence agencies in [[Japan]], [[Republic of Korea|Korea]], [[Okinawa Island|Okinawa]], [[Taiwan]], the [[Philippines]], and [[Hong Kong]] in the third quarter of financial year 1962.<ref name="Summary" /> The purposes were to establish liaison with the Chemical Corps personnel, to reemphasize the importance of CBR intelligence, and to provide on the spot guidance and discuss the establishment of a U.S. Army Chemical Corps Information and Liaison Office in Tokyo.<ref name="Summary" />

===Vietnam===
[[File:'Ranch Hand' run.jpg|thumb|right|A defoliant run during the Vietnam War, part of Operation Ranch Hand.]]
Beginning in 1962 during the [[Vietnam War]], the Chemical Corps operated a program that would become known as [[Operation Ranch Hand]]. Ranch Hand was a [[herbicidal warfare]] program which used [[herbicide]]s and [[defoliants]] such as [[Agent Orange]].<ref name=neilands>Neilands, J. B. "Vietnam: Progress of the Chemical War," ([https://www.jstor.org/stable/2642575 JSTOR]), ''Asian Survey'', Vol. 10, No. 3. (Mar., 1970), pp. 209–229. Retrieved 14 October 2007.</ref> The chemicals were color-coded based on what compound they contained. The U.S. and its allies officially argued that herbicides and defoliants fell outside the definition of "chemical weapons", since these substances were not designed to [[asphyxiate]] or [[poison]] humans, but to destroy plants which provided cover or concealment to the enemy. 

The Chemical Corps continued to support U.S. forces through the use of [[incendiary weapons]], such as [[napalm]], and [[riot control]] measures, among other missions. As the war progressed into the late 1960s, public sentiment against the Chemical Corps increased because of the Army's continued use of herbicides, criticized in the press as being against the Geneva Protocol; napalm; and riot control agents.<ref name="mauroni" />

Besides supplying flame weapons, and preparing for any eventuality of weapons of mass destruction, the Vietnam-era Chemical Corps also developed "[[people sniffers]]", a type of personnel detector. Major [[Herb Thornton]] led chemical soldiers, who became known as [[Tunnel rat (military)|tunnel rats]] and developed techniques for clearing [[Củ Chi tunnels|enemy tunnels]] in Vietnam.<ref name="lillie">Lillie, Stanley H. "[http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0IUN/is_/ai_n15730902 Chief of Chemical]", ([http://www.wood.army.mil/chmdsd/pdfs/Jul-Dec%202005/ChiefChem-JD05.pdf PDF] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090325075646/http://www.wood.army.mil/chmdsd/pdfs/Jul-Dec%202005/ChiefChem-JD05.pdf |date=25 March 2009 }}) ''Army Chemical Review'', July–December 2005, accessed 16 October 2008.</ref>
[[File:CWAbrams.jpg|thumb|right|General [[Creighton Abrams]], seen here in 1968, was appointed [[Chief of Staff of the United States Army|Army Chief of Staff]] in 1972.]]
In March 1968, the [[Dugway sheep incident]] was one of several key events which increased the growing public furor against the corps. An open air spraying of [[VX (nerve agent)|VX]] was blamed for killing over 4,000 sheep near the US [[Dugway Proving Ground]].<ref name=mauroni /> The Army eventually settled the case and paid the ranchers. Meanwhile, another incident involving [[Operation CHASE]] (Cut Holes and Sink 'Em) was exposed, which sought to dump chemical weapons {{convert|250|mi|km}} off of the Florida coast, spurring concerns over the damage to the ocean environment and risk of chemical munitions washing up on shore.<ref name=mauroni /> 

Beginning in the late 1960s, the chemical warfare capabilities of the United States began to decline due to, in part, a decline in public opinion concerning the corps.<ref name=mauroni /> The corps continued to be plagued with bad press and mishaps. A [[Operation Red Hat|1969 incident]], in which 23 soldiers and one Japanese civilian were exposed to [[sarin]] on the island of [[Okinawa Island|Okinawa]], while cleaning sarin-filled bombs, created international concern while revealing the presence of chemical munitions in Southeast Asia.<ref name=nprdetrick>[[Tom Bowman (journalist)|Bowman, Tom]]. "[https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=93196647 Fort Detrick: From Biowarfare To Biodefense]", [[NPR]], 1 August 2008, accessed 10 October 2008.</ref> Also in 1969, President [[Richard Nixon]] reaffirmed a no first-use policy on chemical weapons as well as renouncing the use of biological weapons (BW).<ref name=nprdetrick /> When the U.S. BW program ended in 1969, it had developed seven standardized biological weapons in the form of agents that cause [[anthrax]], [[tularemia]], [[brucellosis]], [[Q-fever]], [[Venezuelan equine encephalitis virus|VEE]], and [[botulism]].<ref name=croddyhart /> In addition, [[Staphylococcal Enterotoxin B]] was produced as an incapacitating agent.<ref name=croddyhart />

During the summer of 1972, Nixon nominated General [[Creighton Abrams]] for the post of [[Chief of Staff of the United States Army|Army Chief of Staff]]. Upon assuming that position, Abrams and others began to address the reformation of the Army in the wake of Vietnam.<ref name=mauroni /> Abrams investigated the possibility of merging Chemical Corps into other Army branches. An ad hoc committee, designed to study possibilities, recommended that the Chemical Corps' smoke and flame mission be integrated into the [[United States Army Corps of Engineers|Engineer Corps]] and the chemical operations be integrated into the [[United States Army Ordnance Corps|Ordnance Corps]]. The groups recommendations were accepted in December 1972 and the United States Army Chemical Corps was officially disbanded, but not formally disestablished, by the Army on 11 January 1973.<ref name=mauroni>Mauroni, Al. "[http://www.armyhistory.org/armyhistorical.aspx?pgID=868&id=133&exCompID=32 The US Army Chemical Corps: Past, Present, and Future] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070727160735/http://www.armyhistory.org/armyhistorical.aspx?pgID=868 |date=27 July 2007 }}", ''Army Historical Foundation''. Retrieved 26 November 2007.</ref>

To formally disestablish the corps, the [[U.S. Congress]] had to approve the move, because it had officially established the Chemical Corps in 1946. Congress chose to table action on the fate of the Chemical Corps, leaving it in limbo for several years.<ref name=mauroni /> Recruitment and career advancement was halted and the Chemical School at [[Fort McClellan]] was shut down and moved to [[Aberdeen Proving Grounds]].<ref name=al>*Mauroni, Albert J. ''Chemical-Biological Defense: U.S. Military Policies and Decisions in the Gulf War'', ([https://books.google.com/books?id=BokYlz8qXwAC&dq=Chemical-Biological+Defense:+U.S.+Military+Policies+and+Decisions+in+the+Gulf+War.&pg=PP1 Google Books]), Praeger, [[Westport, Connecticut]]: 1998, pages 2–3, ({{ISBN|0275962431}}).</ref>

===Post Vietnam, 1975–80===
By the mid–1970s the chemical warfare and defense capability of the United States had degraded and by 1978 the [[Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff]] characterized U.S. ability to conduct operations in a chemical environment as "not prepared."<ref name=hoeber>Hoeber, Amoretta M. and Douglass, Jr. Joseph D. "The Neglected Threat of Chemical Warfare", ([https://www.jstor.org/stable/2626644 JSTOR]), ''International Security'', Volume 3, Number 1. (Summer, 1978), pages 55–82. Retrieved 14 October 2007.</ref>

[[Secretary of the Army]] [[Martin R. Hoffmann]] rescinded the 1972 recommendations, and in 1976 Army Chief of Staff General [[Bernard W. Rogers]] ordered the resumption of Chemical Corps officer commissioning. However, the [[U.S. Army Chemical School]] at Fort McClellan, Anniston, [[Alabama]] did not reopen until 1980.<ref name=mauroni />

===Restructuring, 1980–1989===
{| class="wikitable" style="width:350px; float:right;clear:right;margin:0 0 0.5em 1em;"
|+ '''Changes in Chemical Corps post-1980'''<ref name=al />
|-
! style="width:7em;"|
! '''Pre-1980'''
! '''Post-1980'''
|-
| '''Doctrine/training'''
| Chemical Corps only
| Army wide
|-
| '''Operations emphasis'''
| minimize casualties
| minimize mission degradation
|-
| '''Risk'''
| no risk
| intelligent risk
|-
| '''Control of NBC assets'''
| centralized: Division NBC command
| decentralized: Flexible
|-
| '''Decon'''
| complete decontamination
| partial decontamination
|}
By 1982 the Chemical Corps was running smoothly once again.<ref name=al /> In an effort to hasten chemical defense capabilities the corps restructured its doctrine, modernized its equipment, and altered its [[force structure]]. This shift led to every unit in the army having chemical specialists in-house by the mid-1980s. Between 1979 and 1989 the Army established 28 [[active duty]] chemical defense companies.<ref name=al />

===Southwest Asia===
{{further|topic=this topic|Gulf War Syndrome|Gulf War}}
After [[Invasion of Kuwait|Iraq invaded Kuwait]] in 1990 and much of the world responded by amassing military assets in the region, the United States Army faced the possibility of experiencing chemical or biological (CB) attack.<ref name=taylor>Taylor, Eric R. "[http://www.cato.org/pubs/pas/pa467.pdf Are Our Troops Ready for Biological and Chemical Attacks?]", ''Policy Analysis'', [[CATO Institute]], 5 February 2003, accessed 12 October 2008.</ref> The possibility of CB attack forced the army to respond with NBC defense crash courses in theater.<ref name=taylor /> Troops deployed to the Gulf with protective masks at the ready, protective clothing was made available to those troops whose vicinity to the enemy or mission required it.<ref name=hammond /> Large scale drills were conducted in the desert to better acclimatize troops to wearing the bulky protective clothing (called [[MOPP (protective gear)|MOPP]] gear) in hot weather conditions.<ref name=hammond>Hammond, James W. ''Poison Gas: The Myth Versus Reality'', ([https://books.google.com/books?id=PfUxW5x1s6oC&dq=dugway+sheep+kill&pg=PA91 Google Books]), Greenwood Publishing Group, 1999, ({{ISBN|0313310386}}), page 91.</ref>

Though [[Saddam Hussein]] had renounced the use of chemical weapons in 1989, many did not believe he would really honor that during a conflict with the United States and the broader coalition forces.<ref name=hammond /> As American troops headed to the desert, analysts speculated about their vulnerability to CB attack. Although the location of Hussein's chemical munitions was unknown, their existence was never doubted.<ref name=hammond />

Gulf War I was fought without the [[Iraqi Army]] unleashing chemical or biological munitions;<ref name=hammond /> Eric R. Taylor, of the [[CATO Institute]], maintained that the effective, U.S. threat of nuclear retaliation halted Hussein from employing his chemical weapons.<ref name=taylor /> The locations of many of Iraq's chemical stockpiles were never uncovered and there is widespread speculation that U.S. troops were exposed to chemical munitions while destroying weapons caches,<ref name=hammond /> particularly near the [[Khamisiyah]] storage site.<ref name=dcirept>[[Director of Central Intelligence|DCI]] Persian Gulf War Illnesses Task Force. "[http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/NSAEBB/NSAEBB39/document15.pdf Khamisiyah: A Historical Perspective on Related Intelligence]", 9 April 1997, accessed 12 October 2008.</ref> After the war, analysis suggested the chemical defense capabilities of U.S. forces were woefully inadequate during and after the conflict.<ref name=taylor /> In addition, some experts, such as [[Jonathan B. Tucker]], suggest that the Iraqis did indeed employ chemical weapons during the war.<ref name=tucker>[[Jonathan B. Tucker|Tucker, Jonathan B.]] "[http://cns.miis.edu/npr/pdfs/tucker43.pdf Evidence Iraq Used Chemical Weapons During the 1991 Persian Gulf War]", ''The Nonproliferation Review'', Spring/Summer 1997, accessed 12 October 2008.</ref>

===1990–present===
As a result of the 1995 [[Tokyo subway sarin attack|sarin gas attack on a Tokyo subway]] and the growing concern about a terrorist chemical attack, the [[U.S. Congress]] passed laws to implement a program to train civilian, law enforcement, and fire agencies on responding to incidents involving chemical agents. Further, [[United States Army Reserve]] chemical units began fielding equipment and training Soldiers to perform mass casualty decontamination operations.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Haraburda |first=Scott |title=U.S. Army Reserve Support for Domestic Response to a Chemical Incident |journal=Army Chemical Review |pages=46–50 |date=2007 |url=http://www.wood.army.mil/chmdsd/images/pdfs/Jan-June_2007/Haraburda-Final.pdf |access-date=23 June 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150624072220/http://www.wood.army.mil/chmdsd/images/pdfs/Jan-June_2007/Haraburda-Final.pdf |archive-date=24 June 2015 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

A 1996 [[Government Accountability Office|United States Government Accountability Office]] report concluded that U.S. troops remained highly vulnerable to attack from both chemical and biological agents. The report blamed the [[U.S. Department of Defense]] for failure to address shortcoming identified five years earlier during combat in the Persian Gulf War. These shortcomings included inadequate training, a lack of decontamination kits and other equipment, and vaccine shortages.<ref name=gaorpt>"[https://fas.org/spp/starwars/gao/nsi96123.htm Chemical and Biological Defense: Emphasis Remains Insufficient to Resolve Continuing Problems] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160813222459/https://fas.org/spp/starwars/gao/nsi96123.htm |date=13 August 2016 }}", [[United States General Accounting Office]], via [[Federation of American Scientists]], 12 March 1996, accessed 12 October 2008.</ref>

==Organization and mission==
From 1952 until 1999 the Chemical Corps School was located at [[Fort McClellan]]. Since its closure due to [[Base Realignment and Closure]] in 1999, the Army's Chemical Corps and the [[United States Army Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear (CBRN) School]] are located at [[Fort Leonard Wood (military base)|Fort Leonard Wood]], Missouri. There are approximately 22,000 members of the Chemical Corps in the U.S. Army, spread among the Active, Army Reserve, and Army National Guard.{{citation needed|date=September 2015}}

The school trains officers and enlisted personnel in CBRN warfare and defense with a mission is "To protect the force and allow the Army to fight and win against a [[CBRN (weapon)|CBRN]] threat. Develop doctrine, equipment and training for [[CBRN defense]] which serve as a deterrent to any adversary possessing [[weapons of mass destruction]]. Provide the Army with the combat multipliers of smoke, obscurant, and flame capabilities."{{citation needed|date=September 2015}}

==Traditions==
===Branch insignia===
[[File:Chemical Branch Insignia.svg|thumb|left|120px|[[United States Army branch insignia|Branch Insignia]]]]
The Chemical Corps, like all branches of the U.S. Army, uses specific insignia to indicate a soldier's affiliation with the corps. The Chemical Corps branch insignia consists of a cobalt blue, [[Vitreous enamel|enamel]] [[benzene]] ring superimposed over two crossed gold [[retort]]s. The branch insignia, which was adopted in 1918 by the fledgling Chemical Service, measures .5&nbsp;inches in height by 1.81&nbsp;inches in width. Crossed shells with a dragon head was also commonly used in France for the Chemical service. The Chemical Warfare Service approved the insignia in 1921 and in 1924 the ring adopted the cobalt blue enamel. When the Chemical Warfare Service changed designations to the Chemical Corps in 1946 the symbol was retained.<ref name=insignia>"[http://www.tioh.hqda.pentagon.mil/Branches/Chemical%20Corps.htm Chemical Corps] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071026152756/http://www.tioh.hqda.pentagon.mil/Branches/Chemical%20Corps.htm |date=26 October 2007 }}," ''[[Office of the Administrative Assistant to the Secretary of the Army]]'', The Institute of Heraldry. Retrieved 14 October 2007.</ref>

===Regimental insignia===
[[File:U.S. Army Chemical Corps Regimental Insignia.gif|thumb|left|120px|[[U.S. Army Regimental System|Regimental insignia]]]]
The regimental motto, ''Elementis Regamus Proelium'' translates to: "We rule the battle by means of the elements." The Chemical Corps regimental insignia was approved on 2 May 1986. The insignia consists of a 1.2&nbsp;inch shield of gold and blue emblazoned with a [[dragon]] and a tree. The shield is enclosed on three sides by a blue ribbon with ''Elementis regamus proelium'' written around it in gold lettering. The phrase translates to: "We rule the battle through the elements.". The regimental insignia incorporates specific symbolism in its design. The colors, gold and blue, are the colors of the Chemical Corps, while the tree's trunk is battle scarred, a reference to the historical beginnings of U.S. chemical warfare, battered tree trunks were often the only reference points that chemical mortar teams had across [[no man's land]] during World War I.<ref name=insignia2>"[http://www.wood.army.mil/usacmls/crest.htm Regimental Crest] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071112090049/http://www.wood.army.mil/usacmls/crest.htm |date=12 November 2007 }}," ''U.S. Army Chemical School'', United States Army&nbsp;— Fort Leonard Wood. Retrieved 14 October 2007.</ref> The tree design was taken from the coat of arms of the [[First Gas Regiment]]. The mythical chlorine breathing green dragon symbolizes the first use of chemical weapons in warfare (chlorine). Individual Chemical Corps soldiers are often referred to as "Dragon Soldiers."<ref name=wmdmauroni>Mauroni, Albert J. ''Where are the WMDs?'' ([https://books.google.com/books?id=y-SLU3b7FtsC&dq=chemical+corps+1980s&pg=PA4 Google Books]), Naval Institute Press, 2006, ({{ISBN|1591144868}}), p. 4.</ref>

==Regimental association==
The Chemical Corps Regimental Association operates the "Chemical Corps Hall of Fame". The list includes soldiers from many different eras of the Chemical Corps history, including Amos Fries, Earl J. Atkisson, and William L. Sibert.<ref name=hof>"[http://www.chemical-corps.org/honors/hof.htm Hall of Fame] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070818113308/http://www.chemical-corps.org/honors/hof.htm |date=18 August 2007 }}," ''Chemical Corps Regimental Association'', official site. Retrieved 27 November 2007.</ref> The organization conducts annual inductions, and the honor is considered the highest offered by the corps.<ref name=inductions>Whitacre, Kimberly S. and Jones, Ricardo. "[http://www.wood.army.mil/chmdsd/pdfs/Jul-Dec%202006/HOF.pdf 2006 U.S. Army Chemical Corps Hall of Fame Inductees] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070611062327/http://www.wood.army.mil/chmdsd/pdfs/Jul-Dec%202006/HOF.pdf |date=11 June 2007 }}",  ''Army Chemical Review'', July—December 2006. Retrieved 27 November 2007.</ref>

==Notable members==
[[National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum|Baseball Hall of Fame]] baseball player, manager, and executive [[Branch Rickey]] served in the 1st Gas Regiment during World War I. Rickey spent over four months as a member of the CWS.<ref name=rickey>{{cite book|last=Polner|first=Murray|title=Branch Rickey: A Biography, rev. ed.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rZVXVbo8pEAC&pg=PA76|year=2007|publisher=McFarland|isbn=978-0-7864-2643-0|page=76}}</ref> Other Hall of Famers also served in the CWS during World War I, among them [[Ty Cobb]] and [[Christy Mathewson]]; Mathewson suffered lung damage after inhaling gas in a training accident, which contributed to his later death from tuberculosis.<ref name=holmes>{{cite book|last=Holmes|first=Dan|title=Ty Cobb: A Biography|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8Dm3hqzbyYkC&pg=PA79|year=2004|publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group|isbn=978-0-313-32869-5|page=80}}</ref><ref name="historicbaseball">{{cite web|title=Christy Mathewson|publisher=HistoricBaseball.com|url=http://www.historicbaseball.com/players/m/mathewson_christy.html|access-date=28 October 2006|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150515091612/http://www.historicbaseball.com/players/m/mathewson_christy.html|archive-date=15 May 2015|url-status=dead}}</ref> [[Robert S. Mulliken]] served in the CWS making poison gas during World War I, and he later earned the Nobel Prize in 1966 for his work on the electronic structure of molecules.

==Notes==
{{Reflist|30em}}

==Further reading==
{{Div col|colwidth=30em}}
*Faith, Thomas I. ''Behind the Gas Mask: The U.S. Chemical Warfare Service in War and Peace.'' Urbana, Illinois: University of Illinois Press, 2014.
*Marsh, Hannah. "Memory in World War I American museum exhibits" (Master of Arts thesis, Kansas State University, 2015, [http://krex.k-state.edu/dspace/bitstream/handle/2097/18813/HannahMarsh2015.pdf?sequence=5 online]), about the Chemical Corps Museum at Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri
*Mims, Samuel E. "Survey: Perceptions About the Army Chemical Corps" ([https://web.archive.org/web/20110429065812/http://oai.dtic.mil/oai/oai?&verb=getRecord&metadataPrefix=html&identifier=ADA250824 Abstract], [https://web.archive.org/web/20110522031909/http://handle.dtic.mil/100.2/ADA250824 PDF]), April 1992, ''[[United States Army War College|Army War College]]'': [[Carlisle Barracks]], Pennsylvania, accessed 12 October 2008.
{{Div col end}}

==External links==
{{Commons category|United States Army Chemical Corps|Chemical Corps}}
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