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)

United States and Canada

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