How neve agents have evolved overtime within the military

Chemical warfare has created some of the most devastating and brutal outcomes as it relates to military engagement. Many of these chemicals have resulted in permanent damage to millions of soldiers throughout the world. Here, chemical warfare involves the use of chemical compounds and toxic agents to help incapacitate and even kill enemy soldiers. Chemical warfare is so potent as it provides a seamless alternative to harming enemy parties without risking the lives of soldiers within the process. This two-pronged approach is particularly powerful when one party has access to vast reserves of chemical compounds. During these circumstances nations can rely on chemical warfare to kill opposing soldiers, maintain their own high solider counts and damage the overall moral of enemy troops. Due to its potency chemical warfare was heavily utilized during the first world war where nearly one million casualties where suffered from chemical agents alone. These casualties including permanent blinding, internal burning of organs, burned skinned, and other issues that require vast amounts of corrective surgery. Every sense world war , the use of chemical agents to cause massive harm to others and the surround area have only increased. Due in part to technological innovations that ability for smaller less sophisticated parties to have access to chemical weapons is also compounding, causing still further threats to the stability of the world order. One such threat is that of nerve agents. Here, nerve agents have been particularly potent in the military setting and continue to be heavily utilized today (Somani, 1992).

Nerve agents have a very contentious and polarizing use within the military. Here, the history of nerve agents illustrate how seemingly harmless and useful technologies can be leveraged to harm society and others. The history of nerve agents is particularly unwelcomed as they were used extensively to harm various minority groups during war throughout human history. The most notorious of which are the Jews during the Nazi uprising, Initially, nerve agents where used as a means to help protect food supplies by making an insecticide. The Germans, at the time where very interesting in establishing and maintaining military dominance throughout the European region. In order to do so, they needed to have healthy supplies of food and armaments to sustain a growing and vast military power. Here, the German scientists where looking for methods to help improve crop yield and sustainability. Their focus was also to do so in a cost-effective manner to allow more financial resources to be devoted to German military efforts. The German scientists where successful in their ability to achieve a cost-effective solution that would improve crop yields and prevent spoilage. Here, the scientist used two organic compounds containing phosphorus as an improved pesticide. Here, the agent was much more effective that the prior alternative of nicotine at killing and immobilizing insects. This ultimately help to improve crop yields as insects where unable to eat and corrupt German crops. In fact, by 1936 German chemist Gerhard Schrader has perfected the new insecticide that was able to kill 100% of leaf lice just be contact with the liquid. However, unbeknownst to the scientist, the compound was causing distressing symptoms to humans who would administer the pesticide on the crops. Here, farmers, their families and even community members experiencing debilitating effects that last anywhere from a few hours to a few days. The chemist himself also experiencing complications with the insecticide. Here, he wrote in 1937, that he was unable to see light even while in complete darkness. Eventually, Schrader and his entire staff had to stop working on the insecticide for three weeks due to the damage incurred to their eyes. After further tests, Schrader and his team found the compound to not only kill bugs effectively but it had debilitating impacts on mammals as well. As a result, the project was scrapped as it was determined the compound was too toxic for human use and deployment. Eventually, the research was provided to Nazi military forces who then leveraged the findings to develop weapons that utilized the compounds in a much higher concentration. The German government, due in part to their quest for power and dominance eventually funded the mass production of these compounds, agents and weapons in what would effectively become the very first nerve agent. Here, the German government found this agent to be a natural successor to the typical mustard gas products used in war.

Here, German military personnel first began to heavily invest in warehousing, bunkers and other storage facilities to house the newly developed nerve agent. They invested heavily in security underground manufacturing facilities to mass product the nerve agent. The Germans were able to leverage their extensive financial resources to stockpile a large amount of lethal phosphorus esters and other nerve agent compounds. Unfortunately the use of the agent was not without its consequences as nearly 20 workers were killed due exposure to the agent. This would eventually lead to their deployment in concentration camps, during battles and various other circumstances (Compton, 1988)

By 1952 innovations in nerve agents had emerged. The United States, Soviet Union, Japan and Europe all had vast knowledge on nerve agents and how to properly leverage and mitigate them in battle. As result, the discoveries during world war 1 did not have the same impact as they could now be easily countered with proper preparation. New compounds, agents, and molecules where discovered to help improve the effectiveness of nerve agents, while reducing the oppositions ability to counter it. Interesting the new nerve agent discovery occurred much in the same manner that the original nerve agent did. Much like in world war 1, UK scientists where looking for method to help improve crop yields. Just in the same manner as Schrader two decades earlier, British scientists where indeed able to create an insecticide that improved crop yields. However, the discovery proved too toxic for use by humans. The pesticide was eventually removed from the market with the research findings being sent to the British military for further investigation. By 1953, the United Kingdom had discovered a new molecule dubbed VX, that could be integrated into existing nerve agent products. This innovation, created the first thermonuclear weapons and nerve agents. By 1968, the agent was being massed produced secretly by the UK government. However, a small sample mysteriously left the hidden facility. The sample eventually killed 3000 sheep grazing 27 miles away from the facility.

By 1995, no new significant innovations with nerve agents occurred. Although these agents where used in various wars, the properties, outcomes, and usage of these agents was widely known. No longer did other military regimes have advantages over others. As the ability to manufacture these nerve agents became widely known, more military regimes used them for nefarious means. For example, in 1997 the Aum Shinrikyo cult, a small Japanese religious group used nerve agents in minor terrorist attacks across the country. Here, the cult would lace the tip of their umbrellas with nerve agent and stab individuals in various crowds. The deadliest attack occurred on a crowded subway station where the cult filled five bags with the nerve agent. As the vapors leaked throughout the train, passengers where impacted in just a few seconds of contact with the vapor. Here, the passengers would experience many of the same symptoms of those during world war one such as vomiting, choking and blindness. Others also become paralyzed due to overexposure to the agent. As the agent was impure, the fatality rate was relatively low as only 13 people died. Roughly 6,000 people were enjoyed as the cult coordinated five attacks on three trains. This would eventually go down as the worst domestic terrorism event in Japanese history (Eldridge, 2001).