List of U.S. chemical weapons topics

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The United States chemical weapons program began in 1917 during World War I with the creation of the U.S. Army's Gas Service Section and ended 73 years later in 1990 with the country's practical adoption of the Chemical Weapons Convention (signed 1993; entered into force, 1997). Destruction of stockpiled chemical weapons began in 1985 and is still ongoing. The U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Chemical Defense, at Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland, continues to operate for purely defensive research and education purposes.

Agencies and organizations[]

Army agencies and schools[]

The U.S. chemical weapons programs have generally been run by the U.S. Army:

The regimental insignia of the U.S. Army Chemical Corps

Units[]

Modern chemical depots[]

Active bases

Johnston Atoll Chemical Agent Disposal System (JACADS) in 2000

Closed bases

Older chemical weapons program locations[]

Treaties, laws and policy[]

The U.S. is party to several treaties which limit chemical weapons:

Weapons[]

M134 cluster bomblets in an Honest John warhead

Canceled weapon projects[]

While these weapon systems were developed, they were not produced or stored in the US chemical weapons stockpile.

  • BIGEYE bomb
  • XM-736 8-inch binary projectile

Vehicles[]

Declared stockpile and other weapons[]

An M55 rocket being destroyed in 1990

Stockpiled chemical agents[]

Ball-and-stick model of the (S) enantiomer of VX

Agents stockpiled at the time of Chemical Weapons Convention:

  • isopropyl aminoethylmethyl phosphonite, or QL, part of a binary weapon (VX)
  • Methylphosphonyl difluoride (known to the military as DF) and a mixture of isopropyl alcohol and isopropyl amine (known as OPA), a binary chemical weapon (sarin)
  • Mustard gas
  • Sarin (GB)
  • VX
  • Rainbow Herbicides

Older chemical agents[]

  • Phosgene
  • Chlorine
  • BZ

Other equipment[]

Exercises, incidents, and accidents[]

Operations and exercises[]

  • Operation CHASE, an operation that dumped conventional and chemical munitions at sea
  • Operation Davy Jones' Locker, a post-World War II operation aimed at dumping German chemical weapons at seas
  • Operation Geranium, a 1948 operation that dumped lewisite into the Atlantic Ocean.
  • Operation Paperclip, a program beginning in 1945 to bring German scientists to the U.S.
  • Operation Ranch Hand, defoliant operations during the Vietnam War
  • Operation Red Hat, an early 1970 program to repatriate weapons from Okinawa
  • , 1980's testing and rebuilding of the M17 series protective mask
  • Operation Snoopy, Vietnam War people sniffer operations.
  • Operation Steel Box, an operation which moved chemical weapons out of Germany in 1990.

Accidents[]

  • Bombing of the SS John Harvey during the Air Raid on Bari
  • Dugway sheep incident

Chemical testing[]

  • Edgewood Arsenal human experiments
  • Operation LAC, (Large Area Coverage), 1958 test that dropped microscopic particles over much of the United States
  • Operation Top Hat, a 1953 Chemical Corps exercise testing decontamination methods on human subjects
  • Project SHAD

Chemical defense program[]

See also[]

References[]

  1. ^ Mesesan, Mark. "Pine Bluff Chemical Agen Disposal Facility prepared for final closure". army.mil. Retrieved 2 January 2014.
  2. ^ Mesesan, Mark. "Cleanup of Umatilla Chemical Depot's incineration plant is complete". oregonlive.com. Retrieved 7 October 2014.
  3. ^ Mesesan, Mark. "One year after last chemical weapons destroyed, incinerator at Anniston Army Depot closed". blog.al.com. Retrieved 17 January 2015.
  4. ^ Mesesan, Mark. "Deseret Chemical Depot Closes, Transitions Installation to Tooele Army Depot". www.army.mil. Retrieved 4 March 2015.
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