ChemBioWar: Chemicals, warfare and biobased protective systems

Who’s ready for the really big, really bad wolves?

Is the US prepared for it? Is the world? Hardly. General Buford “Buff” Blount, who led the Third Division into Baghdad in 2003, recalls that in the Second Gulf War, the US went into Baghdad with less than 600 suits of body armor, Humvees with paper-thin walls, and was generally unprepared in terms of the equipment for an active VX environment.

Keep in mind that the US-led coalition had to be prepared for an active chemical battlefield in the assault on Baghdad. They were, after all, in Iraq to secure weapons of mass destruction, including chemical weapons, from a regime that was then facing annihilation.

Currently, the US Army’s primary method of coating materials to harden them against chemical weapons is known as CARC. It’s an old technology – whose usefulness is limited to protecting vehicle paint. That is to say, CARC does not make equipment resistant to nerve toxins — but ensures that the when the harsh cleaning agents are used, that the paint survives and continues to fulfill its intended decorative and protective functions. And, it’s been discovered recently that CARC traps and slowly off-gasses deadly nerve agents such as those now being used in Syria. This leaves troops exposed even long after an initial chemical attack. Meanwhile, CARC is used for vehicles only – no help with battlefield electronics, clothing, gear, or weapons.