U.S. Marines and paratroopers who could be sent into combat in Iran are conducting CBRN (Chemical, Biological, Radiological, and Nuclear) safety drills at their bases in Europe and aboard ship as they sail to the Middle East. The National reported on Friday that advance units of paratroopers from the 82nd Airborne Division, flown from America to Europe to prepare for possible deployment in Iran, have been supplied with “detection systems, gas masks and protective ‘Mopp’ coveralls.”
MOPP (Mission Oriented Protective Posture) suits are essentially hazmat suits for soldiers. MOPP alerts are issued in various levels requiring heavier amounts of protective gear as the anticipated hazard condition grows more serious. Retired U.S. Marine Corps officer Jonathan Hackett told The National that the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit is “practicing CBRN drills on deck as we speak” as they head for the Middle East aboard the amphibious assault ship USS Tripoli, a relatively small aircraft carrier that transports Marines and their support equipment to conflict zones. The CBRN unit can also be scaled up in size, but the conventional marine forces will have their CBRN gear and be drilling on it, with 15 seconds to get mask and Mopp on when someone shouts ‘Gas, gas, gas,’” he explained.
Military analysts and hazardous materials specialists said there are several potential hazard scenarios in Iran, including damage to Iran’s Bushehr nuclear power plant, Iran’s elusive stockpile of near-weapons-grade uranium, inadvertent breaches of bunkers where Iran stores chemical weapons left over from the Iran-Iraq War in the 1980s, and the worst-case scenario of a desperate Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) loading chemical or biological payloads into its missiles. Iran also helped Syrian dictator Bashar Assad develop his chemical weapons, and some analysts fear Iran might have reclaimed some of Assad’s inventory after he was drivenfrom power in December 2024. (Read More)
