It's not as exhausting as running hip deep in the ocean. Or as claustrophobic as lying on your back in an MRI chamber. But marching around in a full set of Army chemical and biological protective gear is no day at the rifle range, either.
After 45 minutes walking and running the streets of this Army post, I was bathed in sweat. Two 75-yard sprints induced Darth Vader-like breathing and a mild sense of suffocation. I did this on a 35-degree day while carrying less than half the combat load of an infantry soldier. It's hard to imagine what eight hours under a broiling Middle Eastern sun might do to troops dealing with the bulky suit and all the other stresses of combat.
We might soon know.
Sometime soon -- perhaps only weeks or days from now -- U.S. military forces could face the daunting prospect of fighting America's first chemical and biological war since World War I, when more than 1 million troops on both sides were injured or killed by poison gas attacks.
The Pentagon says it is ready to fight Iraq on a battlefield that could be showered with the most deadly substances on Earth, including botulinum toxin, VX nerve agent, anthrax and smallpox. Last week, the Pentagon's top officer, Gen. Richard Myers, said U.S. troops could fight in temperatures that top 120 degrees, should the war extend into the summer.
Despite such assurances, experts are divided on what a hot weather war might be like for foot soldiers saddled with cumbersome protective suits. Most analysts say it's possible, if not desirable, to fight in hot weather. Others argue that the threat from the heat and Saddam's chemical and biological arsenal is overblown.
"We do this training all the time, in super-hot weather," says Barry McCaffrey, a retired Army general who led the 24th Infantry Division into Iraq during the 1991 Persian Gulf War.
This time around, McCaffrey estimates that only 2% to 3% of the U.S troops would have to operate in full protective gear during the war. In the event of chemical or biological attacks, McCaffrey says, "we would suffer far fewer casualties than from the same amount of high explosive artillery shells."
A desert inferno
No one knows what kinds of chemicals or diseases Saddam Hussein might unleash if he is facing the prospect of certain death or prosecution for war crimes. Pentagon officials are alarmed enough to have ordered smallpox and anthrax inoculations for all forces heading to the Persian Gulf.
Every soldier will carry at least one protective suit, known in military parlance as a Battle Dress Overgarment, or BDO, into battle.
Few dispute that the harsh climate in the Gulf has played a role in the timing of an invasion that could begin as early as this month.
The last time the Pentagon went to war there, from mid-January to early March 1991, it was winter in Iraq. In February and March, the average daily high temperature in Baghdad ranges from 64 to 73 degrees Fahrenheit. Just two months later, Iraq becomes an inferno -- the average daily high in May is 96 degrees; in June it rises to 105.
I asked two seasoned Army chemical warfare specialists what it's like to wear BDO suits for hours at a time in hot weather. Both smiled in a way that seemed to suggest, don't try this at home.
"Think of playing football in July. Now bump that up by about 5 degrees," says Maj. Forte Ward, an Army chemical weapons officer with Fort Myer's Old Guard who has spent as many as 10 hours in full BDO gear. Ward's comrade, Staff Sgt. Charles Defendall, put it this way: "Think of the hottest place you've ever been."
The BDO suits aren't particularly heavy. But once you fasten the Velcro straps, pull tight the drawstrings and create an airtight seal with your mask, the only thing that breathes is your lungs.
David Hackworth, a decorated Vietnam veteran who is often critical of Pentagon policy, says the military has deliberately downplayed the potential for heat casualties. In an article last fall, Hackworth wrote, "Our soldiers won't be able to function for long in any environment in this type of gear."
A full BDO suit weighs about 10 pounds and includes an airtight mask and hood, rubber boots, rubber gloves and snugly fitting trousers and jacket. It is possible to drink, but not eat, while wearing a full set of protective gear.
Personal hygiene will surely test the brotherhood of America's foot soldiers: In full gear, it is impossible to go to the bathroom without assistance from a "buddy" to fumble with the cumbersome gloves and undo the suit.
The Army's research shows that troops and units can slow to a crawl while wearing the suits. In extremely hot weather, Ward says, soldiers need to take frequent breaks and drink a lot of water. As a general rule, soldiers wearing a full BDO feel about 10 degrees hotter than the temperature outside.
Soldiers are less effective fighting in full protective gear, according to research compiled by Globalsecurity.org, a Web site that specializes in military matters. Their fighting skills can drop by as much as 50%, and they can take up to three times longer to perform tasks. And they get tired. And dangerously overheated.
During a demonstration last fall, an Army soldier wearing protective gear passed out during a Pentagon news conference.
What Saddam has done
Saddam has used chemical weapons to kill his enemies by the thousands. During the Iran-Iraq war in the 1980s, historical accounts show he used chemical weapons indiscriminately against Iranian troops. That helped turn the tide of a near certain defeat into a stalemate.
Iraq used chemical weapons against Iranian troops in every major battle of the war from 1984 to 1988, according to author Kenneth Pollack in his book The Threatening Storm. Saddam continued to use the weapons until the war ended, Pollack wrote, even though it was clear he also killed large numbers of his own troops.
In the late 1980s, Saddam began gassing Kurds in northern Iraq. In one raid, on March 5, 1988, chemical weapons attacks in the town of Halabja killed at least 5,000 Kurds.
U.S. strategists believe Saddam still has large stores of chemical and biological agents and the weapons to deliver them. But measuring the risks to U.S. troops is not easy. Although chemical and biological agents can be loaded into rockets and artillery shells or sprayed from airplanes or boats, they are difficult to control on the best of days.
"Things like VX and sarin gas are very tough to use," says Bill Martel, a professor of national security at the Naval War College in Newport, R.I. Their killing power can vary based on wind direction, temperature and humidity. Some chemical weapons such as sarin gas tend to evaporate quickly in hot weather. Others, such as VX nerve agent or anthrax, can linger for days. A shift in wind direction can result in death or injury to civilians or to those firing the weapons.
Stephen Cimbala, who teaches national security at Penn State University, says Saddam recognizes that such ghastly weapons might be his one advantage against America's high-tech military.
"In a confrontation with the United States, Saddam will bank on the fact that Americans are skittish about military ventures involving heavy casualties," Cimbala says.
One of the Army's top experts on chemical and biological weapons estimates that the top threats to U.S. troops in the Persian Gulf are anthrax, smallpox and botulinum toxin, a deadly substance that kills by paralyzing its victims and rendering them unable to breathe.
Col. Erik Henchal, head of the Army's Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases at Fort Detrick, Md., said last month that the United States does not have a vaccine to counter botulinum toxin, which Iraq produced in quantities of up to 2,000 gallons in the early 1990s. There is an antidote, but it is in short supply.
American soldiers will fight alongside sophisticated sensors, robots, chemical detection vehicles and mobile labs. Units will have access to thousands of gallons of decontaminating foam.
The Bush administration has threatened war crimes trials for any Iraqi officer who uses chemical or biological weapons. And the Pentagon has made it clear it will launch "decisive and violent" bombing strikes against large numbers of Saddam's troops if he uses weapons of mass destruction, senior Defense officials say.
But, as in most wars, the front-line defense will fall to each soldier, and the threat that a desperate Saddam will unleash chemical or biological attacks could keep them in their suits for long stretches.
"Most of our war fighting groups will be wearing protective gear," Henchal says. "It has got to change your outlook."
Soldiers Equipped For Worst Scenario
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