TAB A - Acronyms, Abbreviations, and Glossary

This tab provides a listing of acronyms and abbreviations found in this report. Additionally, the glossary section provides definitions for selected technical terms that are not found in common usage.

Acronyms and Abbreviations

Abn Airborne (type of unit)
ACIS Arms Control Intelligence Staff
ACR Armored Cavalry Regiment (Army unit)
ARCENT US Army Component, Central Command
ASP Ammunition supply point
      
BW biological warfare
C4 Compound 4 (an explosive)
CAM Chemical Agent Monitor
CBW chemical and biological warfare
CCEP Comprehensive Clinical Evaluation Program
      
CENTAF Air Force Component, Central Command
CHPPM US Army Center for Health Promotion and Preventive Medicine
CIA Central Intelligence Agency
COAMPS Coupled Ocean-Atmosphere Mesoscale Prediction System
COMUSARCENT Commander, US Army Central Command
     
CW chemical warfare
CW/BW Chemical weapons/biological weapons
DCI Director, Central Intelligence
DIA Defense Intelligence Agency
Div Division (type of unit)
     
DMDC Defense Manpower Data Center
DoD Department of Defense
DSWA Defense Special Weapons Agency
DTRA Defense Threat Reduction Agency
DVA Department of Veterans Affairs
   
ECMWF European Centre for Medium-Range Forecasts
EOD Explosive Ordnance Disposal
ESG Environmental Support Group
FRAGO fragmentary order
GDAS Global Data Assimilation System
    
HPAC Hazard Prediction and Assessment Capability
IDA Institute for Defense Analyses
KKMC King Khalid Military City
KTO Kuwait Theater of Operations
MARCENT Marine Corps Component, Central Command
      
mm millimeter
MM5 Mesoscale Model, Version 5
NAVCENT Navy Component, Central Command
NCAR National Center for Atmospheric Research
NCO Noncommissioned Officer
    
NOAA National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
NOGAPS Naval Operational Global Atmospheric Prediction System
NRL Naval Research Laboratory
NSA National Security Agency
NSC National Security Council
    
NSWC Naval Surface Warfare Center
NUSSE4 Non-uniform Simple Surface Evaporation 4 transport and diffusion model
NW northwest
OMEGA Operational Multi-scale Environmental Model with Grid Adaptivity
OPLAN Operations Plan
    
OPORD Operations Order
OSD Office of the Secretary of Defense
PAC Presidential Advisory Commission on Gulfwar Veterans’ Illnesses
PGIT Persian Gulf Investigation Team
PSOB Presidential Special Oversight Board for the Department of Defense Investigations of Gulf War Chemical and Biological Incidents
    
RGFC Republican Guard Forces Command
SAIC Science Applications International Corporation
SCIPUFF Second Order Closure, Integrated Puff
SE southeast
SITREP Situation Report
     
SOCCENT Special Operations Component, CENTCOM
SW southwest
US United States
USCENTCOM US Central Command
UN United Nations
     
UNSCOM United Nations Special Commission on Iraq
USASCURR US Armed Services Center for Unit Records Research
USCINCCENT Commander-in-Chief, US Central Command
UTM Universal Transverse Mercator
UXO unexploded ordnance
     
VLSTRACK Vapor, Liquid, and Solid Tracking

Glossary

Blister agent

A blister agent is a chemical warfare agent that produces local irritation and damage to the skin and mucous membranes, pain and injury to the eyes, reddening and blistering of the skin, and when inhaled, damage to the respiratory tract. Blister agents include mustards (HD, HN, HQ, HT, and Q), arsenicals like lewisite (L), and mustard and lewisite mixtures (HL). Blister agents are also called vesicants or vesicant agents.[223,224]

Chemical Agent Monitor (CAM)

A CAM is a hand-held, soldier-operated device that is used to monitor chemical warfare agent contamination on individuals and equipment.[225]

Chemical warfare agent (CWA)

A CWA is a chemical substance excluding riot control agents, herbicides, smoke, and flame, used in military operations to kill, seriously injure, or incapacitate through its physiological effects. Included are blood, nerve, blister, choking, and incapacitating agents.[226]

Comprehensive Clinical Evaluation Program (CCEP)

Developed by a multi-disciplinary team of DoD and DVA medical specialists, the Comprehensive Clinical Evaluation Program provides a two-phase, comprehensive medical evaluation. Phase I is conducted at the local medical treatment facility and consists of a history and medical examination comparable in scope and thoroughness to an in-patient hospital admissions evaluation. The medical review includes questions about family history, health, occupation, unique exposures in the Gulf War, and a structured review of symptoms.

Health care providers specifically inquire about the symptoms and Persian Gulf exposures listed on the CCEP Provider-Administered Patient Questionnaire. The medical examination focuses on patients' symptoms and health concerns and includes standard laboratory tests (complete blood count, urinalysis, serum chemistries) and other tests as clinically indicated.

Individuals who require additional evaluation after completing the Phase I evaluation and appropriate consultations may be referred to one of 14 Regional Medical Centers for Phase II evaluations. Regional Medical Centers are tertiary care medical centers that have representation from most major medical disciplines. Phase II evaluations consist of symptom-specific examinations, additional laboratory tests, and specialty consultations according to the prescribed protocol.[227]

Cyclosarin

A nerve agent known as GF
Chemical name: O-Cyclohexyl-methylfluorophosphonate[228]

Dosage

Dosage is a cumulative exposure. It is the concentration of a chemical warfare agent to which an individual is exposed over a specific period of time.[229]

Explosive ordnance disposal (EOD)

The detection, identification, on-site evaluation, rendering safe, recovery, and final disposal of unexploded explosive ordnance. It may also include removal of explosive ordnance that has become hazardous by damage or deterioration.[230]

First Noticeable Effect (FNE)

First noticeable effect (FNE). This is the dose expected to cause watery eyes, runny nose, tightness of chest, muscle twitching, sweating, and headache. Increasingly higher dosages would produce vision impairment, incapacitation, and death. (Dosage is a cumulative exposure. It is the concentration of a chemical warfare agent to which an individual is exposed over a specific period of time.)[231]

Fox Nuclear, Biological, Chemical (NBC) Reconnaissance System

The Fox vehicle is a six-wheeled, light armored vehicle designed primarily for reconnaissance of liquid chemical warfare agent hazards. On-board chemical warfare agent detection capabilities include the MM-1 mobile mass spectrometer, which is the primary detection device, the M43A1 chemical agent detector, which is an integral component of the M8 alarm system, and the M256A1 chemical agent detector kit. The Fox is also equipped with two radiation detectors. The Fox does not provide any biological warfare agent detection capability, but it does protect the crew from biological hazards, and it allows the crew to mark areas of potential hazard and safely take samples for laboratories to analyze for biological hazards.[232]

GA A G-series nerve agent known as tabun
Chemical name:  Ethyl N, N-dimethylphosphoroamidocyanidate[233]
GB

A G-series nerve agent known as sarin
Chemical name:  Isopropyl methyl phosphonofluoridate[234]

GD

A G-series nerve agent known as soman
Chemical name:  Pinacolyl methyl phosphonofluoridate[235]

GF

A G-series nerve agent known as cyclosarin
Chemical Name:  O-Cyclohexyl-methylfluorophosphonate[236]

G-series nerve agents

G-series nerve agents are lethal chemical warfare agents that work by inhibiting the proper functioning of the cholinesterase enzymes needed for the transmission of nerve impulses throughout the body. These agents affect the functioning of all bodily systems, including the eyes, nose, throat, lungs, and muscles. The G-series nerve agents include tabun (GA), sarin (GB), soman (GD), and cyclosarin (GF). The normal sequence of symptoms is a running nose, tightness of the chest, dimness of vision and pinpointing of the eye pupils, difficulty breathing, drooling and excessive sweating, nausea, vomiting, cramps, involuntary defecation and urination, twitching, jerking and staggering, headache, confusion, drowsiness, and coma. Cessation of breathing and death follow.[237]

General Population Limit General population limit (GPL). The GPL represents the limit at or below which any member of the general population could be exposed (e.g., inhale) seven days a week, every week, for a lifetime, without experiencing any adverse health effects.  Since the potential nerve agent exposure releases at Khamisiyah would result in exposures for a brief period, in modeling our potential hazard area we used a short-term exposure limit, recommended by the US Army Center for Health Promotion and Preventive Medicine, [238] and based on the lifetime GPL.
Global Positioning System The Global Positioning System (GPS) is a DoD developed, worldwide, satellite-based radionavigation system that will be the DoD’s primary radionavigation system well into the next century. The constellation consists of 24 operational satellites. The US Air Force Space Command formally declared the GPS satellite constellation as having met the requirement for full operational capability as of April 27, 1995.[239]
GulfLINK A World Wide Web site maintained by the Office of the Assistant to the Deputy Secretary of Defense for Gulf War Illnesses (www.gulflink.health.mil).
HD A blister agent known as distilled mustard
Chemical name: Bis-(2-chloroethyl) sulfide[240]
Intelligence Community

The Intelligence Community comprises the Central Intelligence Agency, Defense Intelligence Agency, Bureau of Intelligence and Research (Department of State), National Security Agency, National Imagery and Mapping Agency, military services’ intelligence staffs and centers, and several other organizations within the Departments of Defense, Treasury, Justice, and Energy. Intelligence related to military efforts includes information at the strategic, operational, and tactical levels.[241]

L A blister agent known as lewisite
Chemical name:  L: Dichloro-(2-chlorovinyl)arsine[242]
M256 chemical warfare agent detector kit

In the field, the M256-series chemical warfare agent detector kit is referred to simply as the M256 kit. The M256 kit is a portable, expendable item capable of detecting and identifying hazardous concentrations of blister, blood, and nerve agents. The M256 kit is used after a chemical warfare agent warning to test for and confirm the presence and type of chemical warfare agent, and to determine if it is safe to unmask. The M256A1 kit has replaced the M256 kit. The only difference between the two kits is that the M256A1 kit will detect lower levels of nerve agent. US forces used both the M256 kit and the M256A1 kit were used during the Gulf War.

Some smokes, high temperatures, standard US decontamination solution number two (DS2), and petroleum products may cause false readings. Results may be inaccurate when sampling is performed in smoke from burning debris.[243]

M8A1 chemical alarm

The M8A1 is an automatic chemical agent detection and warning system designed to detect the presence of nerve agent vapors or inhalable aerosols. The M8A1 will automatically signal the presence of the nerve agent in the air with both an audible and visual warning. The US military fielded the M8A1 to replace the wet chemical M8 detector—which eliminated the M229 refill kit, the logistic burden, and associated costs. The M8A1 operates in a fixed, portable, or vehicle mounted configuration.[244]

Mission Oriented Protective Posture (MOPP)

Mission oriented protective posture (MOPP) is a flexible system used to direct the wearing of chemical protective garments and mask—a system that balances mission requirements with the chemical warfare agent threat. Wearing the chemical protective garments and mask provides individuals protection against most known chemical warfare agents, biological agents, and toxins.

At MOPP Level 0 individuals carry their protective mask while their remaining MOPP gear must be readily available (e.g., within the work area, fighting position, living space, etc). At MOPP Level 1, individuals wear their overgarment and carry the rest of their MOPP gear. At MOPP Level 2, individuals wear their overgarment and overboots while carrying the mask with hood and gloves. At MOPP Level 3, individuals wear their overgarment, overboots, and mask with hood, but not the gloves. At MOPP Level 4, individuals wear all their MOPP gear.[245] Commanders can raise or lower the amount of protection through five levels of MOPP. In addition, commanders, under certain situations, can exercise a mask-only option.[246]

Nerve agents

Nerve agents are the most toxic of the chemical warfare agents. Nerve agents are absorbed into the body through breathing, by injection, or absorption through the skin. They affect the nervous and the respiratory systems and various body functions. They include the G-series and V-series chemical warfare agents.[247]

Sarin A nerve agent known as GB
Chemical name: Isopropyl methylphosphonofluoridate[248]
Soman A nerve agent known as GD
Chemical name: Pinacolyl methyl phosphonofluoridate[249]
Tabun A nerve agent known as GA
Chemical name: Ethyl N, N-dimethylphosphoroamidocyanidate[250]
VX V-series nerve agent
Chemical Name: O-ethyl-S-(2-diisopropylaminoethyl)methylphosphonothiolate[251]


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