First Army

May 15,1597-- Accusations ol illegal burning ol Lewisite inaoe by cwwo. Army first denies illegal burning then later admits to having burned some containers that previously contained Lewisite. Plaintiffs evidence indicates Lewisite was burned. 

The Army first issued individual protective covers to theater troops late in 1942. Developed at the request of the Air Forces for the protection of air base personnel against vesicant spray from aircraft, the cover became a Quartermaster item of general issue. It consisted of a specially treated, large, cellophane bag folded into a small 4 by 7 -inch packet. A tear-tape device enabled a soldier with rifle or carbine to open the cover and don it sack-fashion in ten to twelve seconds. This cover, though it protected the soldier, enveloped and virtually immobilized him it was an emergency measure and no substitute for protective clothing. 

Dextran. This polysaccharide is produced from sucrose by certain species of l euconostoc (70). Dextran [9004-54-0] was the first commercial microbial polysaccharide. It was used as a blood plasma extender in the U.S. Army during the late 1940s and early 1950s. This program was discontinued in 1955. 

The actual name dry scrubbing was first publicized by Teller [U.S. Patent no. 3,721,066 (1973)]. He worked both with classical Army-type soda-lime and with his patented water-activated form of the alkaline feldspar nepheline syenite as a flow agent and feedstock sorbent for HF and SO9 in hot, sticky fumes from glass melting furnaces. He claimed capture of more than 99 percent of 180 ppm HF and SO9 for more than 20 hours in a packed bed of 200 X 325 mesh hydrated nephehne syenite at 42,000/hr. 

The new synthetic chemistry department was placed under Hans T. Clarke, who had a very small staff of a few assistants. The first man he hired as an organic chemist, on October 22, 1919, was W. W. Hartman, who was just out of the army. On July 10, 1929, he became an assistant superintendent, then superintendent on September 1, 1947. He retired on January I, 19.79. The current title of the department is the Synthetic Chemistry Division of the Research Laboratory. 

In the early years of its history the US Army functioned without a distinct ordnance branch. At first, in 1775, ordnance was the responsibility of a Military Stores Committee then, from 1776 to 1812, of an officer titled the Commissary of Artillery Stores and a secret committee under a Board of War and Ordnance ... 

In 1907 this, the Army s first powder factory, was constructed. It was at this time also, and in line with its expanding activities, that the name was Finally changed to Picatinny Arsenal... 

Advancing technology as well as this demonstration of potential utility of Mass Scatter able Mines led the Army to revise mine warfare doctrine and establish new requirements for a family of Scatterable Mines that could be rapidly and remotely emplaced by a variety uf delivery systems. This requirement called for both Anti-Tank and Anti-Personnel Mine Systems. To this end, two first generation systems are well ad-vandedin devebpment. These are the XM56, a helicopter delivered Anti-Tank Mine System and die XM692, an artillery delivered Anti-Personnel Mine System. Other second generation systems which add increased versatility and capability are scheduled to follow ... 

CA was the first tear agent that came into existence at the end of World War I. It was outmoded in 1920 with the introduction of the CN series and is now obsolete. The tear compounds cause a flow of tears and irritation of the skin. Because tear compounds produce only transient casualties, they are widely used for training, riot control, and situations where long-term incapacitation is unacceptable. When used against poorly equipped guerrilla or revolutionary armies, these compounds have proved extremely effective. When released indoors, they can cause serious illness or death. 

The first control of plague through the use of DDT was accomplished by the U. S. Army in Dakar in November and December 1944 and in Casablanca in July 1945 (8). The outbreak in Dakar had been active since April 20, 1944, and its complete control was apparently almost entirely due to the universal application of DDT in the native quarters to persons, beds, floors, walls, and premises generally. Following this experience, DDT was used more promptly in Casablanca. Macchiavello (13,14) considers, on the basis of his experience in Peru, that the use of DDT followed by the use of 1080 (sodium fluoroace-tate) may be the method of choice in the control of epidemics of bubonic plague. Pollock (20) using DDT alone successfully controlled an epidemic of plague in Haifa in July 1947. 

Hippocrates mentioned elder as a purgative around 400 B.C. Pliny (circa 2379 A.D.) recorded the use of elder by the Romans. Pedanius Dioscorides, a first-century army surgeon who traveled throughout the Roman Empire, also wrote about the medical value of elder. Elder was widely used in the early Italian medical schools. 

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