Chemical Agent Identification Set Chemical Agent Identification Sets ( CAIS ) , known by several other names , were sets of glass vials or bottles that contained small amounts of chemical agent s . They were employed by all branches of the United States Armed Forces from 1928 - 1969 for the purpose of training in detection , handling and familiarization with chemical warfare . Most CAIS were destroyed in the 1980s but the U . S . Army Chemical Materials Agency still occasionally demilitarizes CAIS that are found buried . History . Nomenclature . Throughout the military ' s use of CAIS they were known by several different common names aside from Chemical Agent Identification Sets . The other names were : Toxic Gas Sets , Chemical Agent Identification Training Sets , Instructional War Gas Identification Sets , Detonation War Gas Identification Sets , and Instructional Gas Identification Replacement Sets . General history . CAIS were used by all branches of the United States military for training in detection , handling and familiarization with chemical warfare agents between the 1930s and 1960s . The U . S . Army used CAIS to train its soldiers from 1928 until 1969 . During this time period more than 100 , 000 CAIS units were produced by all branches of the military . CAIS were declared obsolete in 1971 and systematically recalled from military installations during two operations . The first recall operation , Operation Set Consolidation I ( SETCON I ) , was in 1978 ; SETCON II followed on in 1980 . Specifications . Chemical Agent Identification Sets were small glass vials , ampule s or bottles which contained small amounts of chemical warfare agents or industrial chemical s . Each set contained more than two dozen glass ampules , each ampule contained about 100 milliliters of chemical agent . There were three subsets of CAIS , distributed in 18 different set configurations . These subsets included bottles of sulfur mustard used to purposely contaminate equipment or terrain for decontamination training . Another type of CAIS were known as " sniff sets " and were used to train soldiers to recognize the color and odor of chemical agents . Used indoors , the sniff sets contained agent - impregnated charcoal and agent simulants ; they contained very little actual chemical warfare agent . Chemical agents . Each of the CAIS held between one and five different chemical agents . The agents used in CAIS were phosgene , adamsite , lewisite , cyanogen chloride , chloroacetophenone , sarin , nitrogen mustard , sulfur mustard and chloropicrin . In addition , triphosgene , a phosgene simulant , and ethyl malonate , a tabun simulant were also used . Sarin was the only nerve agent used in CAIS . Disposal programs . Following the recall operations of the late 1970s and early 1980s , 21 , 400 CAIS were sent to Rocky Mountain Arsenal where they were destroyed by incineration . The destroyed CAIS represented the entire stockpile then in storage . This initial disposal took place from May – October 1979 and again from May 1981 - December 1982 . Though the stockpile of CAIS were destroyed decades ago , there remained the problem of what to do with CAIS found buried underground . Most of the other 80 , 000 or so CAIS were used during training but some were disposed of , the primary method of disposal was burial . The U . S . Army Chemical Materials Agency was assigned the task of destroying CAIS as they were found , usually through ongoing construction projects . When CAIS items are found the Chemical Materials Agency ' s Non - Stockpile Chemical Materiel Project ( NSCMP ) is tasked to destroy them using the Single CAIS Access and Neutralization System ( SCANS ) , a small , hand - held container used to access and treat recovered CAIS . After treatment , the SCANS is overpacked in a Department of Transportation - approved transport container and shipped to a permitted facility for final treatment and disposal of the entire SCANS container and its waste contents .