Protective cover: chemical suits fitted for unconventional war.

• Author: Magnuson, Stew
• Position: UPFRONT

CHARLESTON, S.C -- During operations near the Iraqi city of Fallujah, ground forces came across bottles full of potassium cyanide and sodium cyanide in an insurgent safe home. Sitting next to them were paint guns with five- and 10-gallon canisters and instructions on how to mix the ingredients into a chemical weapon.

Coalition forces later ran an experiment, following the recipe and using the chemicals to see if the improvised weapon would have been effective.

"They were not only simple to do, but they worked," said Army Brig. Gen. Stephen Reeves, joint program executive officer for chemical biological defense, at a National Defense Industrial Association conference.

The possibility of insurgents using home made biological and chemical weapons is part of an ongoing debate on what kind of protective suits and masks ground forces need. Critics say current suits are designed for a Cold War scenario, where enemies could lay down artillery shells with chemical weapons for extended periods, necessitating the need for suits that could be worn for several hours.

Insurgents do not have such capabilities. Their delivery system is more likely to be something crude such as the paint guns found in Fallujah, experts said.

The issue of how much protection is needed is critical became some of the old complaints about the ensembles remain. They are hot, especially in the desert climate. They are bulky, making movement awkward. And the breathing resistance created by the filters makes exertion during missions difficult.

Shorter exposure time translates to thinner and less cumbersome outfits. One former Marine officer, who wore the protective suits in the opening weeks of Operation Iraqi Freedom, suggested that the ensembles currently used may have been ineffective had Saddam Hussein's troops launched weapons of mass destruction.

The central problem was not a lack of protection, but overprotection, said Darren Wheeler, now an analyst for MKI Systems, who works as a consultant to the joint program.

The suits were too hot and cumbersome for Marines in combat situations, he said.

Many of the problems were logistical. The division lost one of its five Fox reconnaissance vehicles, which are designed to detect the presence of chemical weapons. The division sent it back to Kuwait for repairs, but never got it back.

Furthermore, one company's suits were left behind in Kuwait. Mask repair kits weren't readily available, and troops lacked training on how to keep the...