Training of Other Arms and Services

At least one out of every three commissioned oflicers trained at the Chemical Warfare School came from another arm or service. The number of students from naval components was greater than the total sent by either the Army Ground Forces or the Army Air Forces. In the enlisted classes, outside students definitely outnumbered those from the Chemical Warfare Service. 

Despite the advantages which the Chemical Warfare School offered, outside agencies depended less and less on the school as the war period lengthened. Indications of this development are the action of Army Air Forces in setting up an air chemical school at Barksdale Field, La. (later transferred to Buckley Field, Colo.), and the establishment of the naval chemical warfare school at Dugway Proving Ground. These schools were closer to the technical viewpoints of their arms than was the Chemical Warfare School. 

In the fall of 1942, a sixty-hour course of instruction was outlined for training unit gas officers in unit or local schools. This course was generally followed in training at division or corps levels. The 60 hours of instruction 

The Navy steadily used the Chemical Warfare School facilities throughout the entire war period. Notable in this connection was a consistent trend to widen the scope of instruction and to increase the number of naval students. The naval detachment at Edgewood Arsenal was greatly ex- 

There were three all-Navy courses of instruction at the Chemical Warfare School when the war ended. The most important of these was the four-week Navy and Coast Guard Officers Course. This was an outgrowth of the semiannual Navy Course which had been a regular feature of the curriculum for many years prior to the war. It stressed defense of Navy and Coast Guard units and shore stations against chemical attack, the offensive use of chemical weapons by naval forces, and the training of instructors in this field. As finally developed, this course consolidated separate courses which had previously been presented to Navy, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard officers. 

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