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Troops prepare for chemical, biological
attacks
By Ron Synovitz
NEAR
THE BORDER WITH IRAQ - Ask United States soldiers poised
in the desert of northern Kuwait about their fears ahead
of the imminent invasion of Iraq, and one answer is
given without hesitation.
The answer is the
same, whether given by the lowest-ranking private or the
senior commander of the US Army's Third Infantry
Division, Major General Buford Blount III, "The
potential use of chemical weapons or biological weapons
would be my biggest concern. But I'm not staying awake
worrying about it. We're very well-prepared for that.
We've got good equipment. Soldiers are trained how to
use it. But [the possibility of such an attack] is an
unknown to them, so it does cause them some concern."
Blount's answer is firm when asked what would
happen to his battle plan for a US-led invasion of Iraq
if President Saddam Hussein does launch a chemical or
biological attack. He said that the mission to "create
the conditions for regime change" in Baghdad will
continue. And he said that any call for US retaliation
would be a decision that would have to be made by the
commander in chief of the US armed forces, President
George W Bush. "We would continue our mission. You know,
the response level would be above our echelon. We can
fight through it. We can protect ourselves,
decontaminate ourselves and continue on with our
existing mission," Blount said.
Even without
resorting to its long-range missiles like the al-Samoud
2, Saddam's forces are believed to have the ability to
fire chemical or biological agents at US troops within
Iraq by using artillery shells. But senior US military
officials say that artillery shells laced with chemical
or biological agents simply would not have the range of
the larger missiles.
Colonel Daniel Allyn,
commander of the US Army's Third Brigade Combat Team,
says that he does expect an Iraqi chemical or biological
attack. Indeed, all US troops going into battle will be
wearing special charcoal-lined suits (known as NBC gear)
that have been designed to protect them from biological
agents or chemical weapons. In addition to camouflage
protective pants and jackets, NBC gear also includes a
gas mask, special boots, gloves and helmet covers.
Gas masks are constantly carried by soldiers in
green bags strapped around their left leg. If deadly
agents are detected, an alarm will be raised with the
cry, "Gas! Gas! Gas!" The troops are trained to don
their gas mask within nine seconds.
RFE/RL's
correspondent near Kuwait's northern border with Iraq
watched an entire task force of nearly 1,000 soldiers
perform the ritual in a surprise drill, with the
soldiers shouting once their gas masks were in place.
As a mechanized infantry task force moves
forward into battle, it includes an armored
chemical-detection vehicle - nicknamed the "Fox" - that
takes samples from the air and the soil.
US Army
policy prevents female soldiers from serving in
frontline duty in combat units. But the new Fox vehicles
are considered part of combat support teams. That means
female crew members of Fox teams going into Iraq will be
closer to the front lines than women in the US Army have
ever been.
The commander of the Fox for the
Third Infantry Division's 1-15 Task Force is a
29-year-old second lieutenant named Sylvia Aponte from
Louisiana. Despite the historic implications of her role
in an invasion of Iraq, she said she does not consider
herself to be a trailblazer for women. She said she
considers herself first and foremost to be a soldier and
that she is no different from any of the other soldiers
now massed near Iraq's southern border.
Aponte
said that if her crew detects any chemical or biological
agents, an alarm is sounded. Orders would be given to
vehicles and troops to test themselves for
contamination. "Dirty" soldiers and vehicles must
immediately report to a decontamination area.
It
is clear from observing recent drills in northern Kuwait
that the entire process would delay any advance toward
Baghdad, particularly in desert areas where water
resources are scarce.
Such an attack also would
force soldiers to discard their body armor, designed to
protect them from shrapnel and bullets, which they must
wear on the outside of their protective NBC suits. The
porous material inside flak jackets easily absorbs
chemical agents.
Rifles and vehicles can be cleaned.
But every vehicle must go through a laborious five-step
decontamination process that would keep them out of
action for at least two to three hours. The potential
for traffic jams and confusion is immense.
First
Lieutenant Crystal Lloyd is a chemical officer in the
203rd Forward Support Battalion, a decontamination unit
that would have to clean scores of tanks, armored
personnel carriers, Humvees, fuel tankers, and other
vehicles.
"Ten vehicles take two to three hours
[to decontaminate], as an estimate. That's all the
vehicles we can do with our internal water support [the
water they carry with them]. But with external water
support, we can continue on and do more vehicles.
Internally, we can carry about 5,100 gallons [of water]
[more than 23,000 liters]. In order to do more vehicles,
we have our [external water containers] that hold up to
9,000 more gallons of water [41,000 liters]. So we can
be pretty effective with water support," Lloyd said.
But filling those extra containers with enough
water to decontaminate an entire task force would depend
on access to a nearby water supply. First Lieutenant
Lloyd said that if she is forced to set up her
decontamination stations in a desert area, the water
supply will definitely become an issue.
Copyright (c) 2002, RFE/RL Inc. Reprinted
with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio
Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave NW, Washington DC
20036
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