Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD)

-----Original Message-----
From: Washington, Lawrence [mailto:washingl@monroe.army.mil]
Sent: Thursday, October 12, 2000 9:23 AM
To: Hauser, Ed

Ed

The attachment contains the Chemical Schools request for change to the
restriction statements in selected FMs and TCs. The Chemical School is the
proponent for these publications an have the authority to make the
appropriate changes based on their analysis.

DEPARTMENT OF THE ARMY US ARMY CHEMICAL SCHOOL FORT LEONARD WOOD, MISSOURI 65473-8926

SUBJECT: Request to Change Chemical Proponent Field Manual Distribution Restriction Statements

1. Reference. Army Regulation 25-30, The Army Publication and Printing Program, July 99.

2. Request approval to change the distribution restriction for the manuals identified in Table 1 (Enclosure 1) from Statement B (US Government agencies only) to Statement A (Approved for public release).

3. As proponent for these manuals, the U.S. Army Chemical School (USACMLS) has carefully considered the provisions of AR 25-30, Section 2-14, paragraph c in preparing this request. Our belief is that although the referenced regulation proscribes that manuals containing information on "chemical warfare" should not be approved for public release, it is our interpretation that this provision was intended to deal with aspects of offensive chemical warfare, an aspect no longer a part of any US Army doctrine.

4. The USACMLS believes that changing the distribution restriction for these manuals will increase NBC readiness for Army forces and will contribute to U.S. counterproliferation efforts. By changing the distribution restriction, Army personnel will have ready, unimpeded access to these critical documents through such means as the Reimer Digital Library and the USACMLS web page. It will allow more open and productive dialogue during the development of these manuals. We also believe that the open distribution of this doctrine under the provisions of Statement A will permit potential adversaries to perceive the U.S.'s robust capabilities to operate in an NBC environment which will deter the adversary's use of NBC weapons and thus directly contribute to U.S. policy for counterproliferation.

5. In accordance with AR 25-30, request the manuals in Table 2 (Enclosure 1) that are restricted distribution statement B (US Government agencies only) be changed to restricted distribution statement C (US Government agency's and their contractors) to protect technical and operational information. It is our belief that these manuals still reveal limitations on U.S. chemical and biological defenses that should not be available for public release, however we do acknowledge that these documents should be made available to U.S. Government contractors who are assisting in developing NBC defense capabilities.

6. The USACMLS points of contact for this project are LTC Flanagan and CPT Kemp, DSN 676-7363/7364, commercial (573) 596-0131 ext 37363/37364, fax (573)563-8063, e-mail: flanagac@wood.army.mil and kempc@wood.army.mil.

Enclosure 1. Manual List