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BioChem response force hopes they won't be needed in Kuwait

USMC News

Story Identification Number: 200332192953
Story by Staff Sgt. Bill Lisbon

KUWAIT CITY, Kuwait(March 21, 2003) -- While U.S. troops continue the push north through Iraq and Patriot missiles consistently knock down potentially chemically armed ballistic missiles, one U.S.-led multi-nation task force in Kuwait is anxiously waiting for nothing to happen.

With the unique role of assisting the nation of Kuwait in responding to a chemical attack from Iraq, the Combined / Joint Task Force - Consequence Management hope they never see action.

"If we don't have to do our job, then we don't have to worry about chemical or biological weapons in Kuwait," said operations chief Gunnery Sgt. Osama B. Shofani from a command post adjacent to Kuwait's main emergency operations center.

With every SCUD warning alarm, numerous of which were heard March 20 and 21, 2003, the first two days of action, comes the potential for the unit to be launched into action. After the missiles are shot down, the task force begins to gather intelligence indicating whether biological or chemical agents were onboard.

Consisting of German-operated Fox reconnaissance vehicles and various Czech and Slovak detection equipment, the U.S.-commanded task force is capable of detecting a wide variety of chemical and biological agents. If something is detected and casualties arise, the task force can extract victims and decontaminate them.

The catch is the task force cannot be deployed unless Kuwait specifically asks the United States for assistance, but considering the continued coordination and training between the task force and the government of Kuwait the plea for help is almost assured.

In fact, on the morning of March 21, 2003, Kuwait called upon the task force after a chemical agent was detected among the wreckage of a downed Iraqi missile. When a second reading determined that no chemical weapons were used, the task force stood down, said U.S. Army Maj. Christopher Jones, a liaison officer who coordinates with the Kuwaiti government.

"We were ready to respond," said Jones.

Meanwhile, the nuclear, biological and chemical defense specialists aren't sitting idly by waiting for "the call." For the past two weeks, German and Czech chemical reconnaissance troops patrolled sites around Kuwait sniffing for harmful agents. Not necessarily thinking they would discover any, but the negative readings would help the troops later spot abnormalities signaling chemical or biological agents.

The patrols have also calmed some of the fears of the Kuwait people, said Maj. Andreas Kayser, the German's senior NBC officer.

As the war progresses and reports come in of Iraqi military forces surrendering in droves, task force intelligence analysts believe that the likelihood of chemical weapons use will decrease.

Iraqi surface-to-surface missile commanders have orders to use chemical weapons if Saddam Hussein is killed or if Baghdad is in danger of being overrun, said U.S. Army Sgt. Ryan Schlattman, intelligence analyst. But with the so many of the Iraqi military surrendering, missile commanders are likely to be among them.

Established in November 2001 primarily by Marines from the I Marine Expeditionary Force, the task force was created in response to the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the United States. Initially focused more on responding to terrorist attacks using biological, chemical or nuclear weapons, the unit is now focused more to responding to the use of chemical munitions by Iraq against the people of Kuwait in retaliation for allowing the U.S. use the nation as a launch pad for an assault.

Yet task force leaders say the source of the weapons of mass destruction aren't their primary concern and that the war with Iraq doesn't really affect how they perform their mission.

"Our approach is the same and will remain the same," said U.S. Marine Corps Lt. Col. Charles Chase, the commander of the task force's initial response force in the field.

GlobalSecurity.org Note

On 27 August 2012, Sergeant Ryan Schlattman wrote an Email to GlobalSecurity.org in which he said that the passages in the above article attributed to him were things he had not said, nor would he have said, and that he did not agree with the statements. He also said that the author of the article, Staff Sergeant Bill Lisbon, had never contacted him about the piece.