Military preparedness

During this past decade, knowledge of IMS emerged from the spheres of military and security use, for which efforts had been under way for 30 years, into a national and international awareness that IMS analyzers are the core technology to counter increased civilian vulnerability to unconventional warfare through their use in military preparedness, aviation security, and explosive detection. This, when supplemented with successful commercialization of ion mobility-mass spectrometry (IM-MS) and development of pharmaceutical and clinical applications have altered the presence of IMS in the scientific enterprise. 

If the worst of all worlds is an undetected treaty violation, the next worst is detection of non-compliance. A situation in which a state has violated a treaty - even if the violation is detected - might be more dangerous than one in which no treaty exists and there is consequently a high state of military preparedness on all sides. The other parties... 

Note Tnis article is abstracted from a comprehensive state-of-the-art study of the military expls and-proplnts production industry and its w pollution abatement problems and programs, carried out by an ad hoc committee of the American Defense Preparedness Association for the Environmental Protection Agency. A comprehensive report authored by Col. Norman I. Shapira (USA, Ret), Drs James Patterson and John Brown, and Messrs William Duckert and Jack Poison is available from the National Tech-nical Information Service, Springfield, Virginia 22161, in two volumes EPA-600/2-76-213a... 

All of these chemicals pose an inhalation hazard but a toxic dose could also be obtained through skin absorption or ingestion. Factors that were considered when selecting potential candidate chemicals include global production, physical state of the material (i.e., gas, liquid, or solid), chemicals likely to cause major morbidity or mortality, potential to cause public panic and social disruption, chemicals that require special action for public health preparedness, history of previous use by the military, and/or involvement in a significant industrial accident. 

The magnitude of a disaster will determine whether the involvement of local, state, or federal government agencies is necessary. It is imperative that all elements of the ABA, from local burn units to the national office, work together efficiently and interact in a similar manner with various federal, state, and local agencies to create the maximum state of preparedness and the most effective response when a burn mass casualty event occurs. Disaster response in the United States is multitiered, reflecting limits placed on federal (in particular, the military) involvement in local affairs. 

In essence, this book is a landmark publication in the field of toxicology of CWAs/CWMD, as it provides comprehensive coverage of these chemicals and emphasizes current and novel issues that have not previously been addressed. It is hoped that this book will aid not only academicians but lay persons in community preparedness at local, state, and federal levels to protect civilians, military personnel, animals, wildlife, and the environment from chemical attacks by terrorists, dictators, and other adversaries. This book will be an invaluable source of information for homeland security, the Department of Defense, the Department of Veteran Affairs, the Department of Defense Research Estabhshment, diagnostic labs, poison control centers, federal, state and local authorities, forensic scientists, pharmacologists, toxicologists, chemists, biologists, environmentalists, teachers, students, and libraries. 

Home page for the U.S. Army s Soldier and Chemical and Biological Defense Command. Best resource for description of military devices and products used in the detection and defense of a WMD release. Also has a description of the Domestic Preparedness training programs currently being administered by the Dept, of Defense. 

Preparedness for major chemical terror incidents with CN has been discussed in detail by Ballantyne et al. (2006), who note the particular need for the following (1) constant liaison between military, civil, and political intelligence agencies to keep informed on the likelihood, nature, possible location, and timing of potential incidents, (2) continually updating on methods likely to be encountered in terrorist actions, appropriately revising methodologies to deal with these,... 

The Soviet Union is known to have achieved an impressive military capability in CBR warfare.. . . Now, therefore be it resolved that The American Legion lend its full support to building a United States capability in CBR weapons sufficient to deter or defeat any Soviet CBR aggression and be it further resolved that The American Legion make every effort to obtain increased public understanding and support of the necessity of CBR preparedness by the United States. 

The subject of chemical weapon production was a very sensitive one. In 1984, congress created the Chemical Warfare Review Commission to look at several issues related to the military s chemical warfare preparedness. This committee visited numerous sites, interviewed experts, reviewed policy, and examined intelligence reports. Among their findings, the commission concluded... 

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