VI. LESSONS LEARNED

A. MM-1 Tapes

During Operation Desert Storm, there were no established procedures to collect and archive MM-1 tapes. The MM-1 tapes from GySgt Grass's Fox were destroyed at some point after he turned them over to senior NBC officers. Were those MM-1 tapes available today, we would have thoroughly examined them and possibly would have additional evidence to consider in our assessment of the presence of chemical warfare agents at the ASP.

Today, however, specific doctrine exists for Fox NBC reconnaissance. According to current doctrine, printed MM-1 information (e.g., detection results, spectrum analyses) should be transferred to technical intelligence or escort teams along with samples (if) taken at suspected contamination sites.[117]

B. Organizational and Administrative Record-keeping

Some organizational and administrative records to corroborate interviews were not available in this case. Many Marine Corps Gulf War EOD records were routinely destroyed in compliance with Marine Corps directives. The Department of Defense should ensure that all unit operational records from contingency operations are gathered, indexed, and forwarded to the appropriate records repository. The Department of Defense should re-evaluate the length of time it requires the maintenance of unit operational records from contingency deployments.

This is a final report; however, if you believe you have information that may change this case narrative, please call 1-800-497-6261.


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