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NATOSource

June 20, 2013

US Forces Training for Potential Chemical Weapons Crisis in Syria

By Barbara Starr, CNN Security Clearance

US Forces Training for Potential Chemical Weapons Crisis in Syria

Marines participating in chemical warfare training at Camp Lejeune, May 3, 2013

From Barbara Starr, CNN Security Clearance:  Senior U.S. officials have said there is continuing concern that eventually some type of military units will be needed to go into Syria to take control of the [chemical] weapons. For more than a year, the United States has quietly trained Jordanian forces for that mission.

But the Army’s 82nd Airborne Division is also training for that scenario.

In a series of exercises at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, planned for next week, a brigade will train on how to be ready to deploy from the United States in 18 hours for a chemical weapons crisis.

Although long planned, the exercise is aimed at what commanders see as a real world scenario, a division official says.  (photo: USMC)

Image: USMC%206%2020%2013%20Marines%20training.jpg