Chemical Corps (United States Army)

United States Army Chemical Corps
Seal of the Chemical Corps
Active	28 June 1918 - present
Country	United States
Branch	United States Army
Garrison/HQ	Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri
Website	U.S. Army CBRN School
Commanders
Current commander	Brigadier General James E. Bonner

The Chemical Corps is the branch of the United States Army tasked with defending against chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear (CBRN) weapons. The corps was founded as the U.S. Chemical Warfare Service (CWS) during World War I. Its name was changed to the Chemical Corps in 1946. For most of its history, the Chemical Corps was tasked with delivering chemical weapons rather than defending against them.

Discussion of the topic dates back to the American Civil War. A letter to the War Department dated 5 April 1862 from New York City resident John Doughty proposed the use of chlorine shells to drive the Confederate Army from its positions. Doughty included a detailed drawing of the shell with his letter. It is unknown how the military reacted to Doughty's proposal but the letter was unnoticed in a pile of old official documents until modern times. Another American, Forrest Shepherd, also proposed a chemical weapon attack against the Confederates. Shepherd's proposal involved hydrogen chloride, an attack that would have likely been non-lethal but may have succeeded in driving enemy soldiers from their positions. Shepherd was a well-known geologist at the time and his proposal was in the form of a letter directly to the White House.