TAB A - Acronym Listing and Glossary
This provides a listing of acronyms found in this report. Additionally, the glossary section provides definitions for selected technical terms that are not found in common usage.
Acronyms
ARCENT ....................................................................................................Army Central Command
CENTCOM .....................................................................................United States Central Command
CIA ........................................................................................................ Central Intelligence Agency
CRUR ........................................................US Armed Services Center for Research of Unit Records
CSFR .........................................................................................Czech and Slovak Federal Republic
CW........................................................................................................................Chemical Warfare
DIA........................................................................................................ Defense Intelligence Agency
DoD ..............................................................................................................Department of Defense
DSB.............................................................................................................. Defense Science Board
FAR............................................................................................................... Force d"Action Rapide
FM............................................................................................................................... Field Manual
FBIS...................................................................................... Foreign Broadcast Information Service
GA................................................................................................................... Tabun (Nerve Agent)
GB..................................................................................................................... Sarin (Nerve Agent)
GD ..................................................................................................................Soman (Nerve Agent)
GF............................................................................................................. Cyclosarin (Nerve Agent)
H.................................................................................................................. Mustard (Blister Agent)
HD.................................................................................................. Distilled Mustard (Blister Agent)
HE........................................................................................................................... High Explosives
HHC ...............................................................................Headquarters and Headquarters Company
HQ.............................................................................................................................. Headquarters
KKMC...................................................................................................... King Khalid Military City
KSA......................................................................................................... Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
MOD................................................................................................................. Ministry of Defense
NBC............................................................................................ Nuclear, Biological, and Chemical
PGIIT................................................................................. Persian Gulf Illnesses Investigation Team
TAC CP ......................................................................................................Tactical Command Post
TOC....................................................................................................... Tactical Operations Center
UIC............................................................................................................. Unit Identification Code
UNSCOM................................................................................. United Nations Special Commission
Blister Agents[112]
Mustard (H) agent was used during the later parts of World War I. In its pure state, Mustard is colorless and almost odorless. The name Mustard comes from earlier methods of production that yielded an impure, Mustard smelling product. Mustard is also claimed to have a smell similar to rotten onions.
Distilled Mustard (HD) was originally produced from H by a purification process of washing and vacuum distillation. HD is a colorless to amber colored liquid with a garlic-like odor. It has less odor and a slightly greater blistering power than H and is more stable in storage. It is used as an agent to produce casualties after a certain delay, the duration of which depends upon the munitions used, the weather and the exposure concentration. HD is heavier then water, but small droplets will float on the water surface and present a hazard.
Heavily splashed liquid Mustard persists one to two days or more in concentrations that produce casualties for military significance under average weather conditions and for a week to months under very cold conditions. HD on soil can cause blistering for about two weeks. The persistency in running water is only a few days, while the persistency in stagnant water can be several months. HD is about twice as persistent in sea water.
Mustard acts first as a cell irritant and finally as a cell poison on all tissue surfaces contacted. Early symptoms include inflammation of the eyes; inflammation of the nose, throat, trachea, bronchi, and lung tissue; and redness of the skin. Blistering or ulceration are also likely to occur. Other effects may include vomiting and fever that begin around the same time as the skin starts to redden.
Eyes are very sensitive to Mustard in low concentrations, but skin damage requires a much larger concentration. HD causes casualties at lower concentrations in hot and humid weather, because the body is moist with perspiration and wet skin absorbs more Mustard than does dry skin. HD has a very low detoxification rate; therefore, repeated exposures are cumulative in the body. Furthermore, individuals can be sensitized to Mustard.
Individuals can be protected from small Mustard droplets or vapor by wearing protective masks and permeable protective clothing. The use of impermeable clothing and masks can protect against large droplets, splashes, and smears.
Nerve Agents[113]
Tabun (GA) is a brownish to colorless liquid agent that gives off a colorless vapor and causes causalities quickly. It was first developed by the Germans before the start of World War II. GA enters the body primarily through the respiratory tract, but it is also highly toxic through the skin and digestive tract. It is approximately 20 times more persistent than Sarin (GB) but not as stable in storage. GA has a high toxicity to the eyes, and a very low concentration of the vapors causes the pupil to constrict. This results in an individual having difficulty seeing in dim light. GA liquid penetrates the skin quickly; therefore decontamination of the smallest drop of the liquid agent is essential.
The normal sequence of symptoms for vapor exposure is: running nose, tightness of chest, dimness of vision and pin-pointing of the eye pupils, difficulty breathing, drooling and excessive sweating, nausea, vomiting, cramps, involuntary defecation and urination, twitching, jerking and staggering, headache, drowsiness, coma and confusion. These symptoms are followed by cessation of breathing and death. These symptoms appear much more slowly from skin dosage than from respiratory dosage. Respiratory lethal dosages kill in 1 to 10 minutes; liquid in the eye kills nearly as fast; death may occur through skin absorption in one to two minutes; or death may also be delayed for one or two hours.
A protective mask and protective clothing provide protection from all nerve agents. Protective clothing gives off G agents for about 30 minutes after contact with vapor. All liquid agent should immediately be removed from protective clothing.
The persistency of GA depends upon the munitions used and the weather. Heavily splashed liquid persists one to two days under average weather conditions. It can persist about one day at 20� C and about six days at 5� C.
Sarin gas (GB) was developed by the Germans after they developed GA. The symptoms exhibited by and protection methods used for GB are identical to GA. Death usually occurs within 15 minutes after a fatal dosage is absorbed.
Soman (GD) is a colorless liquid that gives off a colorless vapor. Skin and eye toxicity is three times that of GA. Lethal respiratory and eye dosages usually kill in 1 to 10 minutes, while dosages absorbed through the skin can take up to one to two hours. The symptoms exhibited by and protection methods used for GD are identical to GA and GB.
V Agents[114]
V agents are generally colorless and odorless liquids which do not evaporate rapidly. The standard V agent is VX while others include VE, VG, and VS.
VX (the US standard V agent) is very persistent, odorless, amber colored liquid similar in appearance to motor oil. VX is much more persistent then G agents and causes death by the same mechanisms as G nerve agents. Since VX has a low volatility, liquid droplets on the skin do not evaporate quickly which increases its absorption. VX absorption through the skin is estimated to be more than 1000 times as toxic as GB and by inhalation is estimated to be 10 times as toxic as GB.
Death usually occurs within 15 minutes after the absorption of a fatal dosage. The persistency of VX depends on the munitions and weather conditions. Heavily splashed liquid can persist for long periods under normal weather conditions. In very cold weather, VX can persist for months.
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