Chemical Corps creation

Some LBO players specifically seek a restructuring role within certain sectors of the chemical industry. Huntsman is one of the best examples, with the creation of a polystyrene business from a variety of acquisitions in the USA and Europe (subsequently sold to NOVA Corp.). George Harris is another, with a global salt and soda ash business that was built up from a number of acquisitions and then sold as a package to IMG Global. 

As indicated earlier, the War Department set up a co-ordinating agency known as the Office of Gas Service in October 1917. This clearinghouse for chemical matters consisted of a director and representatives from the Ordnance and Medical Departments and from the Chemical Service Section of the National Army—a section established at the same time as the Gas Service with a principal mission of providing the AEF with a chemical laboratory. In February 1918 the Chemical Warfare Service and the Gas Division were joined in a move that failed to provide the administrative centralization and the prestige that could only come from the formation of an independent gas corps. This final step was taken bn 28 June 1918 with the creation of the Chemical Warfare Service, National Army, with Maj. Gen. William L. Sibert as director. 

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