File: 970903_oct1_0023.txt
Page: 0023
Total Pages: 106

NBC Defense

leclini(lues were inefficient in the desert because of greater dispersion distanced and
common battlefield noise, such as that from operating aircraft and heavy equipment I
icer reported that metal on metal techniques and crank si,,ens
I MEF (FWD) the NBC Off . A
were not effecrive and the headquarters switched over to a powered Federal Alarm
system. In maneuve- ur-its, a great reliance was placed on alarm through hand and arm
signals and beeping of vehicle homs. Many NBC officers recommended that vehicles be
equipped with alarm capability, just as they are with @oms.

(S) Wan-iing and reporting of pending chemical attack or downwind hazards has
always been a key role of NBC control center operations. In SWA control center
operations ranged from elaborate setups at higher headquarters with full teams for
plotting and reporting to operations where an NBC officer in the alpha or bravo
conutiand group was required to perform all functions of calculating, plotting,
predicting, and warning.

(S) All front-line Marines were trained in agent identification and reporting
possible contan-dnation using NBC-1 observer reports, to give time, location, and
descriptive information on (he suspected attack to higher headquarters. Battalion NBC
officers were responsible for taking this agent attack information, plotting downwind
hazard fan, and warning of the hazard area to higher and adjacent units. with respect
to ground operations, aU NBC officers interviewed stated that NBC messages were not t
effectively received or transmitted by forward units during the offensive. Most all
stated that the reason for poor NBC reporting was greatly due to a lack of a dedicated
nets for NBC message traffic. NBC officers were typically monitoring the intelligence
nees and not permitted direct access to tactical nets. AU NBC officers stated there was a
great deal of confusion from the inability to obtain good follow-up on reported agent
attacks because of communication lirairations. 7th Marines was able to develop an
innovative solution to commur@cation of NBC warning messages. Using Position
Location and Reporting System (PLARS), 7th Marines developed a simple coding system
for transmission of NBC reports.

(S) Conununication Hn-dtations also caused iiu'tial problems with obtaining -
weather and wind data for NBC officers to predict scope and duration of potential agent
hazards. The Chemical Downwind Message (CDM) provides the basic weather data that
allows for prediction of agent hazard fans once contamination is detected. Providing
Chemical Downwind Messages (CDM's) for NBC control center operations to the
regiment and below is docninauy a higher headquarters responsibility. An 'uu'tial
concern of maneuver elements was the inability to obtain timely CDWs from higher
headquarters during the ground offensive. NBC officers were forced to develop there
own CDWs using field expedient meehods. Surprisingly, given the rapid local climatic
changes in the desert, aU generauy felt more comfortable with their own CDM