Shortages of chemical and biological defense equipment are a long-standing problem. After the Persian Gulf Conflict, the Army changed its regulations in an attempt to ensure that early-deploying units would have sufficient equipment on hand upon deployment. This direction, contained in U.S. Forces Command Regulation 700-2, has not been universally implemented. Neither the Army’s more than five active divisions composing the crisis response force nor the early-deploying Army reserve units we visited had complied with the new stocking level requirements. All had shortages of critical equipment; three of the more than five active divisions had 50 percent or greater shortages of protective suits, and shortages of other critical items were as high as 84 percent, depending on the unit and the item. This equipment is normally procured with operation and maintenance funds. These shortages occurred primarily because unit commanders consistently diverted operation and maintenance funds to meet what they considered higher priority requirements, such as base operating costs, quality-of-life considerations, and costs associated with other-than-war deployments such as those to Haiti and Somalia. Relative to the DOD budget, the cost of purchasing this protective equipment is low. Early-deploying active divisions in the continental United States could meet current stocking requirements for an additional cost of about $15 million. However, unless funds are specifically designated for chemical and biological defense equipment, we do not believe unit commanders will spend operation and maintenance funds for this purpose. The shortages of on-hand stock are exacerbated by inadequate installation warehouse space for equipment storage, poor inventorying and reordering techniques, shelf-life limitations, and difficulty in maintaining appropriate protective clothing sizes. The Army is presently considering several actions to improve these conditions. New and improved equipment for chemical and biological defense is needed to overcome some shortfalls, and DOD is having difficulty meeting all of its planned chemical and biological defense research goals. Efforts to improve the management of the materiel development and acquisition process have so far had limited results and will not attain their full effect until at least fiscal year 1998. In response to lessons learned in the Persian Gulf Conflict, Congress directed DOD to improve the coordination of chemical and biological doctrine, requirements, research, development, and acquisition among DOD and the military services. DOD has acted. During 1994 and 1995, it established the Joint Service Integration Group to prioritize chemical and biological defense research efforts and develop a modernization plan; and the Joint Service Materiel Group to develop research, development, acquisition, and logistics support plans. The activities of these two groups are overseen by a single DOD office—the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Nuclear, Biological, and Chemical Warfare Defense. While these groups have begun to implement the congressional requirements of P.L. 103-160, progress has been slower than expected. At the time of our review, the Joint Service Integration Group expected to produce during 1996 its proposed (1) list of chemical and biological defense research priorities and (2) joint service modernization plan and operational strategy. The Joint Service Materiel Group expects to deliver its proposed plan to guide chemical and biological defense research, development, and acquisition in October 1996. Consolidated research and modernization plans are important for avoiding duplication among the services and otherwise achieving the most effective use of limited resources. It is unclear whether or when DOD will approve these plans. However, DOD officials acknowledged that it will be fiscal year 1998 at the earliest, about 5 years after the law was passed, before DOD can begin formal budgetary implementation of these plans. DOD officials told us progress by these groups has been adversely affected by personnel shortages and collateral duties assigned to the staff. DOD efforts to field specific equipment and conduct research to address chemical and biological defense deficiencies have produced mixed results. On the positive side, DOD began to field the Biological Integrated Detection System in January 1996 and expects to complete the initial purchase of 38 systems by September 1996. However, DOD has not succeeded in fielding other needed equipment and systems designed to address critical battlefield deficiencies identified during the Persian Gulf Conflict and earlier. For example, work initiated in 1978 to develop an Automatic Chemical Agent Alarm to provide visual, audio, and command-communicated warnings of chemical agents remains incomplete. Due to budget constraints, DOD has approved and acquired only 103 of the more than 200 FOX mobile reconnaissance systems originally planned. Of the 11 chemical and biological defense research goals listed in DOD’s 1995 Annual Report to the Congress, DOD met 5 by their expected completion date of January 1996. Some were not met. For example, a DOD attempt to develop a less corrosive and labor-intensive decontaminate solution is now not expected to be completed until 2002. Chemical and biological defense training at all levels has been a constant problem for many years. For example, in 1986, DOD studies found that its forces were inadequately trained to conduct critical tasks. It took 6 months during the Persian Gulf Conflict to prepare forces in theater to defend against chemical and biological agents. However, these skills declined again after this conflict. A 1993 Army Chemical School study found that a combined arms force of infantry, artillery, and support units would have extreme difficulty performing its mission and suffer needless casualties if forced to operate in a chemical or biological environment because the force was only marginally trained. Army studies conducted from 1991 to 1995 showed serious weaknesses at all levels in chemical and biological defense skills. Our analysis of Army readiness evaluations, trend data, and lessons learned reports from this period also showed individuals, units, and commanders alike had problems performing basic tasks critical to surviving and operating in a chemical or biological environment. Despite DOD efforts—such as doctrinal changes and command directives—designed to improve training in defense against chemical and biological warfare since the Persian Gulf Conflict, U.S. forces continue to experience serious weaknesses in (1) donning protective masks, (2) deploying detection equipment, (3) providing medical care, (4) planning for the evacuation of casualties, and (5) including chemical and biological issues in operational plans. The Marine Corps also continues to experience similar problems. In addition to individual service training problems, the ability of joint forces to operate in a contaminated environment is questionable. In 1995, only 10 percent of the joint exercises conducted by four major CINCs included training to defend against chemical and biological agents. None of this training included all 23 required chemical/biological training tasks, and the majority included less than half of these tasks. Furthermore, these CINCs plan to include chemical/biological training in only 15 percent of the joint exercises for 1996. This clearly demonstrates the lack of chemical and biological warfare training at the joint service level. There are two fundamental reasons for this. First, CINCs generally consider chemical and biological training and preparedness to be the responsibility of the individual services. Second, CINCs believe that chemical and biological defense training is a low priority relative to their other needs. We examined the ability of U.S. Army medical units that support early-deploying Army divisions to treat casualties in a chemically and biologically contaminated environment. We found that these units often lacked needed equipment and training. Had Iraq actually employed chemical and/or biological agents during the Persian Gulf Conflict, the military’s ability to deal with subsequent casualties would have been severely impaired at best. Medical units supporting early-deploying Army divisions we visited often lacked critical equipment needed to treat casualties in a chemically or biologically contaminated environment. For example, these units had only about 50 to 60 percent of their authorized patient treatment and decontamination kits. Some of the patient treatment kits on hand were missing critical items such as drugs used to treat casualties. Also, none of the units had any type of collective shelter in which to treat casualties in a contaminated environment. Army officials acknowledged that the inability to provide treatment in the forward area of battle would result in greater rates of injury and death. Old versions of collective shelters are unsuitable, unserviceable, and no longer in use; new shelters are not expected to be available until fiscal year 1997 at the earliest. Few Army physicians in the units we visited had received formal training on chemical and biological patient treatment beyond that provided by the Basic Medical Officer course. Further instruction on chemical and biological patient treatment is provided by the medical advanced course and the chemical and biological casualty management course. The latter course provides 6-1/2 days of classroom and field instruction needed to save lives, minimize injury, and conserve fighting strength in a chemical or biological warfare environment. During the Persian Gulf Conflict, this course was provided on an emergency basis to medical units already deployed to the Gulf. In 1995, 47 to 81 percent of Army physicians assigned to early-deploying units had not attended the medical advanced course, and 70 to 97 percent had not attended the casualty management course. Both the advanced and casualty management courses are optional, and according to Army medical officials, peacetime demands to provide care to service members and their dependents often prevented attendance. Also, the Army does not monitor those who attend the casualty management course, nor does it target this course toward those who need it most, such as those assigned to early-deploying units. Today, DOD still has inadequate stocks of vaccines for known threat agents, and so far has chosen not to implement existing immunization policy and procedures. DOD’s program to vaccinate U.S. forces to protect them against biological agents will not be fully effective until these problems are resolved. Though DOD has identified which biological agents are critical threats and determined the amount of vaccines that should be stocked, we found that the amount of vaccines stocked remains insufficient to protect U.S. forces, as it was during the Persian Gulf Conflict. Problems also exist with regard to the vaccines available to DOD. Only a few biological agent vaccines have been approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Many remain in Investigational New Drug (IND) status.